16. Department of the Interior · Notable
Abolish the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey
Printed page 534 16. Department of the Interior
“Abolish the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey and obtain necessary scientific research about species of concern from universities via competitive requests for proposals.”
What has happened
- Attempted
The FY2027 request repeated it — "The 2027 budget does not request funding for the Ecosystems Mission Area, which will allow the bureau to focus on higher priority activities, including achieving energy and minerals dominance", a change of −$294,705 thousand and −981 FTE — and adds that some of the work "may be continued at the state level and at academic institutions", which is the substitution the Quote asks for. USGS also proposes decommissioning Ecosystems Mission Area facilities, naming research centers including the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center. Still a request: the mission area exists and is funded.
- Attempted
The President's FY2026 discretionary budget request cut USGS Surveys, Investigations and Research by $564 million to eliminate "programs that provide grants to universities, duplicate other Federal research programs and focus on social agendas … to instead focus on achieving dominance in energy and critical minerals", and USGS's own FY2026 justification put it plainly: "The 2026 budget does not request any funding for the Ecosystems Mission Area" — the biological research program that carries the former Biological Resources Division's work. Congress declined: USGS's FY2027 justification records the FY2026 enacted level for Ecosystems as $294,705 thousand and 981 FTE.
- FY2026 Discretionary Budget Request — Department of the Interior: U.S. Geological Survey, Surveys, Investigations, and Research (−$564 million)
- U.S. Geological Survey FY2026 Budget Justifications — "The 2026 budget does not request any funding for the Ecosystems Mission Area"
- Public Law 119-74, Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 — USGS funded, Ecosystems Mission Area not eliminated
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
The Biological Resources Division became the Ecosystems Mission Area in the USGS reorganization of the 2010s; the functions are the same, so a rename is not an elimination. Two budgets running, the administration has asked Congress to zero it out.
- Action
- abolish
- Object
- Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey
- ID
- 1510