On Monday, 9 November 2026, a coalition of researchers, instructors and scholarly societies filed suit against the National Science Foundation (NSF) to stop it from closing its Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate. According to Higher Ed Dive and the Boston Globe, the complaint was filed in a federal court in Boston. Everything below about the plaintiffs’ claims is allegation; no court has ruled.
What was filed
- Plaintiffs: two named college instructors (the Globe names Gregg Sparkman and Jenna Croteau), the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS), the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Social & Affective Neuroscience Society, along with other researchers, graduate students and university departments, per Higher Ed Dive.
- Defendants: NSF and Brian Stone, NSF’s chief of staff, who is performing the duties of the director.
- Counsel: Democracy Forward.
- Claims: that NSF violated the Administrative Procedure Act and its governing statute, which directs it to support the social sciences, by deciding in April 2026 to eliminate SBE in fiscal 2027; that it did not consider the consequences, including its ability to support basic social-science research; and that it gave no official rationale.
- Relief sought: reversal of the decision and an order blocking the closure.
NSF’s position
NSF spokesperson Mike England told the New York Times, as reported by the Globe, that the directorate “has not been shut down” and that the agency has been “actively engaging in prudent planning and taking steps to implement the president’s agenda.” The plaintiffs allege that since April NSF has stopped funding new basic SBE research and reassigned almost all SBE staff. The two accounts differ on how far the closure has progressed, which is likely to be a central factual question.
Background
SBE distributes about $247 million a year in grants, nearly two-thirds of all federal grants in these fields, according to NSF as cited by Higher Ed Dive. FABBS documented the April 2026 steps to diminish or dismantle the directorate. Higher Ed Dive also reports that NSF has had no permanent director since Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned in April 2025, and that Stone is due to retire at the end of the year.
What SBE-funded researchers and sponsored-programs offices should watch
- Court docket. Watch for any request for a preliminary injunction or other interim order, and for NSF’s response. Nothing in the reporting so far indicates a ruling.
- Active awards. Confirm with your NSF program officer, in writing, who now administers each active SBE award, and keep records of any change in contact, review process or reporting requirements.
- Pending proposals and solicitations. Track status of submitted proposals and open solicitations, and consider whether alternative sponsors or cross-directorate programs fit the work. Do not assume a program’s continuation or closure beyond official NSF notices.
- Budget and appropriations. The administration’s fiscal 2026 proposal to cut SBE funding was not adopted by Congress, per MLex reporting; fiscal 2027 appropriations language is the other place to watch.
- Institutional planning. Research offices may want to map their SBE-dependent portfolio (awards, graduate funding, data infrastructure) and prepare contingency communications for investigators.
This article reports on a pending lawsuit and is not legal advice. Check the court docket and NSF’s official notices for current status.
