A coalition of scientific societies and two Massachusetts researchers sued the National Science Foundation in federal court in Boston, seeking to stop the planned closure of its Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate, or SBE; Democracy Forward represents the plaintiffs.

The case is titled *Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences et al. v. National Science Foundation et al.*

The complaint says NSF announced on April 3, 2026, that it would close SBE in fiscal year 2027 without a director or consultation with the National Science Board, which Congress entrusted with such decisions.

The plaintiffs allege NSF violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the law establishing the agency by announcing the closure without adequate process, weighing its consequences, or giving an official rationale; they ask the court to reverse the decision and block the shutdown.

The suit also argues that changes to NSF’s structure require approval from the National Science Board and that Brian Stone, who is performing the agency director’s duties, lacks authority to eliminate SBE; the complaint says NSF acted without consulting SBE’s governing board, whose members President Donald Trump fired.

The complaint says Congress rejected a proposed SBE funding reduction in the administration’s 2026 budget and directed NSF not to cut the directorate’s budget by more than 5%.

SBE awards about $247 million annually and provides nearly two-thirds of federal funding for basic academic research in social, behavioral, and economic sciences; the plaintiffs warn that closing it would halt research and cost thousands of jobs.

The White House’s fiscal year 2027 research budget called for eliminating SBE, and NSF has cut its usual number of new SBE grants by about 90%; the agency issued no new grants in fields including sociology and anthropology during fiscal year 2026 and has no active funding opportunities.

The funding freeze has already disrupted researchers: Sparkman’s grant application was denied and cannot be resubmitted without an active solicitation, while Croteau cannot apply for postdoctoral fellowships because no relevant opportunity is available.

Researchers say SBE-supported work addresses challenges in artificial intelligence, health, education, public policy, economic security, and human cooperation, and warn that lost opportunities and talent may not be recoverable.

The lawsuit points to past SBE-backed contributions including matching kidney donors with patients, informing economic and national-security policy, developing search-engine models, and responding to opioid addiction, infectious diseases, cybercrime, and terrorism.

NSF spokesperson Mike England said the directorate had not been shut down and that the agency was planning to implement the president’s agenda and align funding with agency priorities; NSF declined to comment on the pending litigation, and no first hearing date has been set.