By Ben Ritz and Stephen Verral
Public investments in research and development (R&D) during the 20th century have powered many of America’s greatest advancements. However, federal funding for R&D has been declining over the past 50 years. Now, as Congress negotiates spending bills for the new fiscal year, investments in R&D are being further starved in an effort to reduce budget deficits. Although now is a time when the federal government should be unwinding the nation’s debts, cutting R&D funding is a shortsighted decision that will barely change the fiscal trajectory while hobbling America’s ability to innovate.
When Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act one year ago, it was supposed to herald a $200 billion increase in public R&D that reversed the long-term funding decline and prevented China from gaining a technological edge. But lawmakers failed to appropriate the funds needed to meet this target in Fiscal Year 2023 — and the outlook for 2024 is even worse.
Congress will return to Washington in September embroiled in a partisan standoff over spending. Extremists in the far-right Freedom Caucus are demanding massive spending cuts beyond those agreed upon in the debt ceiling negotiations earlier this summer. Included in the House GOP’s proposed appropriations bills are deep cuts to R&D investments in energy, agriculture, the environment, space exploration, and health and medicine. Only the defense sector will see an expansion of R&D funding.
