Overview

• Science-related accounts averaged about $150 million more per account when Republicans controlled the House and roughly $100 million more with a Republican president.
• The analysis spans 1980 to 2020 and compiles 171 appropriations accounts across 27 agencies, covering grants, contracts, and in-house research.
• Most federal science dollars move through contracts or internal agency work rather than competitive grants, yet the distribution across fields remained largely stable.
• Agency-level differences emerged, with the Department of Energy receiving less under a Republican House, while NIH, NSF, CDC, DoD, NASA, and others often saw larger appropriations.
• The authors highlight current uncertainty, noting proposed executive-branch cuts alongside congressional resistance, including a Senate plan to boost NIH funding by $400 million.