On May 31, 2025, the President of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) confirmed to staff that up to 250 of roughly 1,100 positions could be cut by the end of the summer. President Marcia McNutt wrote in a memo that “no decisions [had been] made” but that “[NASEM]’s financial realities necessitate preparing for painful downsizing and reorganization.”
The second Trump administration has terminated tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts with NASEM, raising concerns about the future of the nonprofit’s defining consensus reports, which provide independent scientific advice to the government.
Since January 20, the National Research Council (NRC), NASEM's operational arm, has lost 43 federal contracts and received eight stop-work orders, impacting program staff. NRC has already laid off over 50 employees, and a reorganization is expected to further reduce staff. Greg Symmes, NASEM’s chief operating officer, said, “We have not yet determined how far [staff] reductions will have to go.”