Fact Check: Trump fired entire National Science Board. We unpacked White House's reasoning

Claim:

In late April 2026, U.S. President Trump fired all members of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation and advises Congress and the president on scientific matters.

Rating:

Rating: True

Context:

A White House official confirmed to Snopes via email that Trump had dismissed the entire board, citing "constitutional questions." Three board members also said they received emails informing them of their terminations effective April 24, 2026.

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In late April 2026, a rumor spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump had dismissed every member of the National Science Board. Founded in 1950, the board oversees the National Science Foundation and advises Congress and the president on scientific matters.

For example, a Facebook post shared on April 26 claimed Trump fired all 24 members of the board (archived):

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1530661749105819&id=100064860241186&post_id=100064860241186_1530661749105819&rdid=u7CNMlBdol4xVj5J#

The claim also circulated on X and Reddit, and Snopes readers emailed us to confirm its veracity. In addition, other reputable news outlets, such as The Verge, Scientific American and Nature, reported that Trump had removed all members of the NSB.

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Three board members told Snopes they received emails informing them of their terminations on April 24, 2026. (There were 22 members of the board — not 24, as some posts claimed.) An unnamed White House official also confirmed via email that Trump had dismissed the entire board, citing "constitutional questions."

Given the above, we've rated the claim as true.

Former board members confirm dismissals

Snopes reached out to all 22 NSB members listed on an archived webpage to confirm their dismissals. As of this writing, that same webpage (archived) said the board was "pending new appointments" without providing further information. Three board members had responded to us by the time of publication.

When we asked Roger Beachy, professor emeritus of biology at Washington University in St Louis, if he could confirm that he and 21 other board members had been dismissed via email on April 24, he said, "Yes, the emails came to us just after 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday the 24th."

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Willie May, professor of Chemistry at Morgan State University and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, also confirmed that he and his colleagues had been dismissed, but declined to comment further.

In an emailed response to the same question, Keivan Stassun, professor of Astrophysics and Computer Science at Vanderbilt University, confirmed the dismissal message stated no reason for the move. He said he received the email at 2:16 p.m. Central Time and that eight of the board members he spoke to received the same termination notice. He added that the message came from "the White House office of personnel management, 'on behalf of' the President."

White House explains reason for dismissal

In an email to Snopes on April 27, a White House official confirmed Trump dismissed the board and said the decision followed a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court case that raised "constitutional questions" about its authority:

The Supreme Court's reasoning in U.S. v. Arthrex in 2021 raised constitutional questions about whether non-Senate confirmed appointees can exercise the authorities that Congress gave the National Science Board.

The Supreme Court's 2021 decision held that administrative patent judges' authority was "not reviewable" by the U.S. Senate because the Senate did not confirm them. The U.S. secretary of commerce appoints administrative patent judges, who have the power to adjudicate patent disputes, meaning they hold significant authority to decide on patent validity. The court said the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office should review the administrative patent judges' decisions for the system to become constitutional.

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It was unclear how U.S. v. Arthrex applied to the NSB. The president appoints the members of the NSB and, like administrative patent judges, the Senate does not confirm them. However, unlike administrative patent judges, the NSB only advises Congress and the president and holds no real decision-making power. Its members don't decide on policy themselves. In a follow-up email, we asked the White House to explain how the U.S. v. Arthrex ruling justifies changing how the NSB has functioned for 76 years, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

"We look forward to working with the Hill to update the statute and ensure the NSB can perform its duties as Congress intended," the White House official added. "The National Science Foundation's work continues uninterrupted."

For further reading, Snopes previously investigated a claim that Trump ordered scientists not to publish research without approval.

Sources:

"AAAS Presidents | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)." American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2021, www.aaas.org/leadership/presidents. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

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Christensen, Laerke. "Unpacking Claim Trump Admin Ordered Scientists Not to Publish Research without Approval." Snopes, Snopes.com, 5 June 2025, www.snopes.com/news/2025/06/05/trump-scientists-ordered-not-to-publish-research/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

"Dr. Willie E. May." Morgan.edu, 2018, www.morgan.edu/research-and-economic-development/about-us/staff-directory/willie-may. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

Garisto, Dan. "Entire NSF Science Advisory Board Fired by Trump Administration." Nature.com, Nature, Apr. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01361-7. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

---. "Scientific American." Scientific American, 26 Apr. 2026, www.scientificamerican.com/article/entire-nsf-science-advisory-board-fired-by-trump-administration/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

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"Keivan Stassun." Evolution@Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt University, 25 Aug. 2019, www.vanderbilt.edu/evolution/person/keivan-stassun/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

"National Science Board Elects First Industry Leader in 30 Years." NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation, 14 May 2024, www.nsf.gov/nsb/updates/national-science-board-elects-first-industry-leader-30-years. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

"National Science Board Members." NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation, 2026, www.nsf.gov/nsb/members. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

O'Brien, Terrence. "Trump Fires the Entire National Science Board." The Verge, 25 Apr. 2026, www.theverge.com/science/918769/trump-fires-the-entire-national-science-board. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

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Washington University. "Roger Beachy." Department of Biology, 4 May 2017, biology.wustl.edu/people/roger-beachy. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

"About Us | United States Patent and Trademark Office." Uspto.gov, 31 Mar. 2020, www.uspto.gov/about-us. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

"Administrative Patent Judge." Ballotpedia, 2021, ballotpedia.org/Administrative_patent_judge. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.

"United States v. Arthrex, Inc." Oyez, 21 June 2021, www.oyez.org/cases/2020/19-1434. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.