NSF's Halts in Grantmaking are Unprecedented
Noam Ross · June 16, 2026
The National Science Foundation halted grantmaking last week. No awards were made from June 4 through June 12. This was just one of many disruptions to NSF grantmaking over the past 18 months. The latest pause may not seem long compared with disruptions like the recent government shutdown. Yet like so many changes under this administration, it is unprecedented in the modern era of federal science funding.
NSF’s grant records go back to 1960 and include the date of each award, giving us a complete picture of the agency’s grantmaking history. We searched that history for all pauses in grantmaking of at least five business days.
Typically, awards are made continuously, with a regular pause of about two weeks around the fiscal-year turnover in September–October.[1] Outside of fiscal-year turnover, pauses have come from federal budget crises — government shutdowns and funding lapses. The record includes the 1995–96 Clinton-era shutdown, the 2013 Obama-era shutdown at the start of the fiscal year, the 2018–19 first Trump administration shutdown, two pauses in fall 2024 when a continuing resolution with a “no new starts” provision froze new NSF funding, and the extended government shutdown in late 2025.
This month’s pause was the third since Trump took office with no connection to a government shutdown, budget crisis, or fiscal-year turnover. The first was in the administration’s chaotic first week. The second was in April 2025, when hundreds of awards were terminated in the wake of the DOGE takeover.
Prior to this administration, these kinds of mid-year pauses were unheard of. According to NSF’s data, the last time the agency had a weeklong mid-year pause outside of a federal budget crisis was in 1970, when the agency made fewer than 500 awards per year.
| Pauses in NSF Grantmaking >5 Business Days since 1970 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of Pause | End of Pause | Business Days | Cause/Context |
| Jun 04, 2026 | Jun 12, 2026 | 7 | Latest pause |
| Sep 24, 2025 | Nov 18, 2025 | 38 | Second Trump administration government shutdown |
| Apr 16, 2025 | Apr 22, 2025 | 5 | Grant terminations and DOGE takeover |
| Jan 23, 2025 | Jan 31, 2025 | 7 | Start of Trump administration |
| Oct 30, 2024 | Nov 08, 2024 | 8 | Frozen funding under FY2025 continuing resolution |
| Oct 18, 2024 | Oct 28, 2024 | 7 | Frozen funding under FY2025 continuing resolution |
| Sep 24, 2024 | Oct 08, 2024 | 11 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 26, 2023 | Oct 06, 2023 | 9 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 26, 2022 | Oct 07, 2022 | 10 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 27, 2021 | Oct 07, 2021 | 9 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 24, 2020 | Oct 14, 2020 | 14 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 24, 2019 | Oct 08, 2019 | 11 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Dec 24, 2018 | Jan 25, 2019 | 22 | First Trump administration government shutdown |
| Sep 24, 2018 | Oct 05, 2018 | 10 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 25, 2017 | Oct 11, 2017 | 12 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 26, 2016 | Oct 03, 2016 | 6 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 28, 2015 | Oct 02, 2015 | 5 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Sep 22, 2014 | Oct 10, 2014 | 15 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Oct 01, 2013 | Oct 17, 2013 | 12 | Obama administration government shutdown and fiscal year turnover |
| Dec 18, 1995 | Jan 10, 1996 | 16 | Clinton administration government shutdown |
| Oct 02, 1990 | Oct 09, 1990 | 5 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Oct 02, 1979 | Oct 12, 1979 | 8 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Oct 01, 1976 | Oct 08, 1976 | 6 | Turnover of fiscal year |
| Jul 13, 1972 | Jul 19, 1972 | 5 | Turnover of fiscal year (was Jul 1 pre-1974) |
| Jul 03, 1972 | Jul 11, 1972 | 6 | Turnover of fiscal year (was Jul 1 pre-1974) |
| Jul 02, 1971 | Jul 12, 1971 | 6 | Turnover of fiscal year (was Jul 1 pre-1974) |
| Nov 12, 1970 | Nov 18, 1970 | 5 | |
| Jul 01, 1970 | Jul 13, 1970 | 8 | Turnover of fiscal year (was Jul 1 pre-1974) |
| Apr 17, 1970 | Apr 23, 1970 | 5 | |
| Mar 18, 1970 | Mar 24, 1970 | 5 | |
| Mar 09, 1970 | Mar 16, 1970 | 6 | |
| Jan 22, 1970 | Jan 28, 1970 | 5 | |
| Jan 05, 1970 | Jan 15, 1970 | 9 | |
| Business days are calculated as
calendar days minus weekends and federal holidays. The federal fiscal year start switched from July 1 to October 1 with the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. | |||
The long-term record shows that NSF has a remarkable history of consistency and continuity. This dependability underpins scientific innovation in the U.S.; historically, scientists have been able to count on timely, predictable processes to support their work and enable long-term investments in research programs and careers.
This foundation has been undermined by grant terminations, the snail’s pace of funding when NSF is making grants, the chaos of DOGE, layoffs, and the administration’s reckless budget process. Nine months into its fiscal year, the NSF has spent only 20% of its budget and has made only 30% of the awards it made by this point in years before the current administration. This latest pause is unprecedented and has only deepened the pattern of instability that threatens the U.S. scientific enterprise.
Notes
- In 2013, a debt-ceiling crisis, government shutdown, and budget sequestration ushered in the modern era of budget uncertainty. This led to agencies adopting much greater caution around the fiscal year turnover, lest they violate the Antideficiency Act by making awards that they might not have the budget to support.