If Congress appropriated the money, why isn't it reaching researchers?

Appropriation and disbursement are two separate steps. Congress passes the law that authorizes spending, but the Office of Management and Budget controls the apportionment process that actually releases funds to agencies on a schedule, and that schedule slowed sharply in 2026.

It is contested. Federal law, including the Impoundment Control Act, restricts an administration's ability to simply withhold appropriated funds, and courts have already blocked one related move, the indirect-cost cap. Whether the broader apportionment slowdown crosses that line was not settled as of this brief's verification date.

science · 2026

The Withheld Grant Money

Congress appropriated the science budget. Months into the fiscal year, most of it still had not reached a single lab, because the agency that controls the release schedule answers to a different boss.

Facts verified as of July 2026.

The administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request proposed cuts totaling 44 billion dollars, or 22 percent, across agencies engaged in scientific research, including reductions to NSF of 57 percent, NIH of 41 percent, and NASA of 24 percent [PROJECTED]. Congress rejected the deepest of these cuts, including a proposal to slash NIH funding by nearly 40 percent [VERIFIED].

Even with funding appropriated by law, disbursement stalled. As of late March 2026, halfway through the fiscal year, NIH had obligated only about 15 percent of its 38 billion dollar research budget, while NSF had obligated around 20 percent of its normal pace [VERIFIED]. The bottleneck was not a lack of appropriated funds but the routine apportionment process the Office of Management and Budget uses to release them to agencies, which the administration used to slow the pace [VERIFIED].

Sources

[VERIFIED] The White House used the routine apportionment process to slow release of congressionally appropriated science funding in 2026. Nature, White House stalls release of approved US science budgets
[VERIFIED] As of late March 2026, NIH had obligated about 15 percent of its 38 billion dollar budget and NSF about 20 percent of its normal pace. AAAS Science, Analysis: Why the research money isn't flowing from NSF and NIH
[VERIFIED] The administration's FY2026 request proposed a 44 billion dollar, 22 percent cut across science agencies, and Congress rejected the deepest proposed cuts. American Physical Society, NSF lags in grant awards and Trump again proposes deep cuts to science
[VERIFIED] The administration proposed capping indirect cost reimbursement at 15 percent of grant value; federal judges have blocked the change. Brennan Center for Justice, The Cost of the Trump Administration's Attacks on Research Funding