Federal R&D as Industrial Policy

The FY27 budget shows the White House explicitly treating federal research-and-development spending as a tool to build industrial and strategic capabilities, concentrating funds on AI, chips, energy, space, and defense while deprioritizing social and behavioral science. That repurposing is enacted via OMB/OSTP priority memos and line‑item budget proposals, provoking congressional pushback that will determine whether research ecosystems or national security goals prevail. — If national R&D funding is reframed as industrial policy, it reshapes which disciplines thrive, how scientific authority is allocated, and how research supports geopolitical and economic strategy.