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February 20, 2025

 

Dear Director Vought:

 

Congratulations on your confirmation as Director of the Office of Budget and Management. The Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI), a coalition of businesses, trade groups, scientific and engineering societies, and university organizations, looks forward to working with you during the next four years. TFAI supports federally funded scientific research and promotes its benefits to America’s economy, security, and quality of life.

As you assist the President in proposing his FY 2026 budget, we urge you to support critical innovation investments that produce enormous returns for the American people. These include investments in the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

These investments are essential to building and sustaining a successful American research enterprise. Similarly, federal investments in basic research are vital to our nation’s science, technology, innovation, and manufacturing sectors. The products and applications that have been created as a result of these research dollars have spurred tremendous economic expansion, and provided a training ground for the future generation of scientists and innovators so critical to advanced industry.

For decades, America has been the undisputed global leader in science, technology and innovation. But as you know, the global landscape is increasingly competitive. While U.S. federal investments in fundamental research have been relatively flat, our international counterparts have increased their investments in R&D, in many cases dramatically. China is at the top of the list: in recent decades, their rate of investment in R&D has been triple that of the U.S., and they now challenge our scientific and technological superiority.

To better compete with China and the rest of the world, we must invest in American innovation, which is built on the critical relationship between fundamental research and advanced industrial technology development. There is no better way to protect American interests and stand up to China than to support federal funding of scientific research. Specifically, we believe new and renewed investments should be made in FY 2026 to support the often-neglected area of basic research.

The Task Force on American Innovation looks forward to working with you and President Trump on these critical issues in the next four years.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Task Force on American Innovation