Three California Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to reverse course on budget cuts to national laboratories, warning that “American technological, economic, and military superiority will be put at risk if our national labs are not operating at full strength.”
In a July 25 letter to Energy Department Secretary Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the lawmakers said that, “due to unlawful reprogramming and the prospect of budget cuts as proposed by this administration’s budget request, labs have already started to lay off employees.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, along with Rep. Zoe Lofgren. They noted that four of the nation’s 17 labs overseen by Energy are located within their home state of California.
“Indeed, we believe the work of the national labs is instrumental in ensuring that the U.S. remains the global leader in the development of artificial intelligence models,” they wrote, adding that the labs provide vital support for U.S. efforts to outpace competitors like China in the development of new capabilities. “As you know, experts in the public and private sectors alike and public officials on both sides of the aisle believe there is tremendous benefit in being the first nation to establish clear global AI dominance.”
President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would slash funding for Energy’s research and development programs, including to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy that oversees labs focused on energy innovation. Several specific labs — such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory — would be in line for significant cuts under the proposed budget.
Politico’s E&E News reported on Friday that the director of California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory told staff that, “as we look ahead to the federal budget for fiscal year 2026, it has become clear that staffing reductions at the lab are unavoidable.”
The lawmakers wrote that some labs have also “warned Congress that they may need to start laying off thousands of scientists and technical staff in the near future.”
Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., who co-chairs the Senate National Labs Caucus, similarly wrote a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday that called for him to reverse the proposed cuts in the FY26 budget.
Wright previously told Congress last month that he was “very open” to reducing the budget cuts and was “keen” on restoring some funding for national labs.
“We agree that the expertise and research efforts of our national labs are invaluable to advancing these critical endeavors, and we were pleased to hear that you also believe that the President’s budget request does not sufficiently account for the critical the work at our national labs,” Schiff, Padilla and Lofgren wrote.
Despite the looming threat of budget cuts and workforce reductions, several of the nation’s labs have recently partnered with outside tech firms to enhance their operations.
Amazon Web Services and the Idaho National Laboratory announced on Wednesday that they will collaborate to develop AI tools for nuclear energy projects. Microsoft and the Idaho National Laboratory similarly announced on July 16 that they were also partnering to bring AI and cloud-based capabilities into the nuclear permitting and licensing space.
Energy also revealed on Thursday that it selected four sites to host new artificial intelligence data centers, including Idaho National Laboratory.
