U.S. Polar Budget: Cutting Ties with an Antarctic Icebreaker

With its FY 2026 Budget Request for the National Science Foundation (NSF) released on May 31, the Trump Administration continues the recent trend by the United States to reduce its polar capabilities.

While not as steep a cut as the 56% reduction of the entire NSF budget, the FY 2026 Request from all NSF accounts that fund polar activities is $522.37 million, a decrease of almost 16% from $621.51 million in FY. (See below chart.) Even more concerning is the request to cap polar spending at $500 million, which is a 26% reduction from the $680 million cap authorized in FY 2024 and is less than the amount requested. And possibly strangest of all, it eliminates funding for one of the few icebreakers in the U.S. fleet. These U.S. cuts come as China, Russia, and other countries are increasing their activities in the Arctic and Antarctica.

The largest NSF polar budget account is the Directorate of Geoscience’s Office of Polar Programs (GEO/OPP), which includes the vast majority of expenses related to the two polar regions. As the budget request states, GEO/OPP is the primary supporter of fundamental research in the polar regions but has responsibilities far beyond science. In the Arctic, NSF facilitates coordination of research planning as directed by the Arctic Research Policy Act of 1984, and the NSF Director chairs the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) created for this purpose. In the Antarctic, per Presidential Memorandum 6646 (1982), NSF manages all U.S. activities as a single, integrated program, making Antarctic research possible and supporting leadership by the U.S. Department of State in the governance in the region through the Antarctic Treaty System.

The three subcategories for GEO/OPP are Research, Education, and Infrastructure, the last of which includes the U.S. Antarctic Logistical Support budget line. The Infrastructure item for the FY 2026 Request includes an increase of less than one percent in order to maintain an active operational presence at the three permanent year-round stations including the geopolitically vital South Pole station and to operate research stations, vessels, and other infrastructure in the Arctic, including Summit Station in Greenland. (For those who are wondering, the FY 2025 Budget request submitted by the Biden Administration also specifically mentions the Summit Station.) On the other hand, Research is reduced by almost 71% and Education is zeroed out.

The second largest account that has polar budget lines is the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC), which includes the Antarctic Infrastructure Recapitalization (AIR) program. The AIR program, which covers general-purpose infrastructure including facilities, utilities, equipment, and vehicle fleet equipment, is the successor to the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science (AIMS) project. First AIMS and now AIR implements recommendations made by the (2012) Blue Ribbon Panel chaired by former Lockhead Martin CEO, Norm Augustine, on how to improve the cost efficiency of U.S. operations in Antarctica. The FY26 AIR funding will focus on the most critical near-term need, the McMurdo station Lodging Building, and will also fund the McMurdo pier (no change in the expected completion in FY27), South Pole remediation (expected date of completion now FY26 instead of FY25), McMurdo Power Plant (expected date of completion now FY27 instead of FY26), raising South Pole station buildings (expected date of completion now FY27 instead of FY26), Traverse improvements and expansion (no change in the expected completion in FY26), Fleet and Equipment refresh (ends in FY26 instead of continuing for future years), and other projects. These steps were previewed by previous Trump Administration decisions that affected Antarctica.

The third and smallest polar account is the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC), which was created by the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 to establish the national policy, priorities, and goals necessary to construct a federal program plan for basic and applied Arctic scientific research. USARC advises officials in developing national Arctic research projects and supports interaction with Arctic residents, international Arctic research programs and organizations, and local institutions, including regional and local governments.

Potentially worrying is that the draft FY 2026 Appropriations Bill language in the Request states that the Administration is asking for an amount “not to exceed $500,000,000 … for polar research and operations support, and for reimbursement to other Federal agencies for operational and science support and logistical and other related activities for the United States Antarctic program.” Not only is this significantly less than the $680 million authorized for FY 2024 but might not cover all of the polar expenses requested above even after all the cuts.

While not specific budget line items, the FY 2026 request reduces funding to two high-profile Antarctic infrastructure pieces: the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and RV Nathaniel B. Palmer. The Observatory, which is the world’s largest high-energy neutrino detector, is located beneath the ice at the U.S. South Pole station. Its funding would be cut by almost half from $7.94 million to $4 million, leaving its operations to continue with a reduction in staff deploying to Antarctica and minimal maintenance activities, which does not bode well for the future of this remarkable research unless some other deep-pocket investor steps up. The budget request also states that the NSF intends to terminate the lease of the research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer in FY 2026. The Palmer is one of only a handful of icebreakers that the United States operates worldwide and is the backup to the only other U.S. icebreaker operating in the Southern Ocean, the USCGC Polar Star, which is well-beyond its intended service life. While the Administration is working furiously to modernize the United States’ well-known woeful icebreaker situation, no new American icebreakers will hit the water anytime soon, which makes it odd to eliminate this rare resource in a challenging environment at this time.

The FY 2026 Budget request also continues efforts to respond to the August 2022 NSF report on Sexual Assault/Harassment Prevention and Response (SAHPR) Report in Antarctica. A group of criminal investigators will travel to the U.S. Antarctic stations as part of efforts to address sexual assault and stalking issues and will determine an appropriate and feasible law enforcement posture and plan to address the problem for the longer-term. The safety of scientists and staff at the U.S. stations in Antarctica have been the subject of multiple hearings on a bipartisan basis by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

To conclude, the FY 2026 Budget Request demonstrates that the Administration understands the NSF expertise in polar operations and logistics is needed to advance U.S. national interests in the polar regions. The request makes some changes in funding these essential operations and logistics, although halting funding for an existing U.S. icebreaker is particularly questionable. However, equating polar science with science done anywhere else in the world overlooks the importance of polar scientists in advancing U.S. national interests in both polar regions and in particular the Antarctic. Overall, by cutting the NSF polar programs budget, it appears that the Trump Administration either does not consider the increasing activities by China, Russia and other countries in the polar regions to be an issue to address or that NSF is not one of the vehicles by which to respond to that growing competition.

William (Bill) Muntean is a Senior Associate (non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he focuses on Antarctic geopolitics. He is also a board member of the American Polar Society (APS).