Democrats rebut attack on ‘wasteful’ NSF

Claims by Oklahoma Republican senator Tom Coburn that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has mismanaged or wasted over $3 billion, including tens of millions of dollars spent on questionable research studies, are unsubstantiated and reflect a misunderstanding of the agency’s grant management practices, according to a report by the Democratic staff of the House Space, Science and Technology Committee.

The Coburn report, released in May, also said NSF’s poor grant administration had left the agency with $1.7bn in unspent, expired funds that needed to be returned immediately.