On Sunday, the National Science Foundation announced that its payment system was back online to comply with a judge’s order, five days after the agency froze funding to researchers.
While post-doctoral fellows were relieved that they could now request the checks they rely on to pay for rent, food, and credit card bills, some remain concerned about what they see as contradictory messages that the funding agency has put out, and worry their grants and livelihoods may still be at risk.
The NSF did not immediately respond to questions from STAT on Sunday.
Many NSF-funded researchers are paid through universities or other institutions, but others get their money directly from the agency itself, logging into a portal and requesting payments. Though they can technically request all the money they’ve been allocated all at once, it’s customary for them to withdraw it bit by bit, the way many workplaces send out regular paychecks.
That portal was frozen following Trump’s Jan. 27 order halting many payments across the government, which was later modified and then rescinded.
National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills
According to the NSF’s webpage on the executive orders, which was updated on Sunday, “NSF can not take action to delay or stop payment for active awards based solely on actual or potential non-compliance with the Executive Orders.”
But last week, when researchers tried to log on to request their paychecks, the website said that “The Award Cash Management Service (ACM$) is temporarily unavailable beginning Tuesday January 28, 2025 at 5 p.m. EST, while NSF performs a comprehensive review of the award portfolio to ensure compliance with recent Executive Orders…”
And even once the payment system came back online, the agency’s website said it would continue to review its award portfolio “in the context of recent Executive Orders.”
In court, state attorneys general have argued that the payment pause was a violation of the U.S. Constitution, given that funding mandated by Congress could not be withheld by the executive branch.
When researchers had learned of the impending funding freeze, many had tried to request large sums, in order to be able to pay their bills and keep working, regardless of whether the Trump administration tried to pause payments that the federal government had already promised to give out. But payment requests made on Tuesday were canceled.
The NSF’s website said it reserves the right to “to take action for reasons not related to compliance with the executive orders, such as violations of law, regulation, or current NSF grant terms and conditions.”
In the meantime, the NSF said that there may be delays in payment processing in the next two days, given the anticipated high volume of requests.
