Negotiations over the US federal budget for fiscal year 2026 are in the beginning stages, but when it comes to space, the fault lines are already solidifying in the Senate.

The Trump White House released its budget request last Friday, and this included detailed information about its plans for NASA. On Thursday, just days later, the US Senate shot back with its own budget priorities for the space agency.

The US budget process is complicated and somewhat broken in recent years, as Congress has failed to pass a budget on time. So, we are probably at least several months away from seeing a final fiscal year 2026 budget from Congress. But we got our first glimpse of the Senate's thinking when the chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released his "legislative directives" for NASA on Thursday

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WASHINGTON, DC—The general outline of the Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget was released a few weeks back, and it included massive cuts for most agencies, including every one that funds scientific research. Late last week, those agencies began releasing details of what the cuts would mean for the actual projects and people they support. And the results are as bad as the initial budget had suggested: one-of-a-kind scientific experiment facilities and hardware retired, massive cuts in supported scientists, and entire areas of research halted.

And this comes in an environment where previously funded grants are being terminated, funding is being held up for ideological screening, and universities have been subjected to arbitrary funding freezes. Collectively, things are heading for damage to US science that will take decades to recover from. It's a radical break from the trajectory science had been on.

That's the environment that the US's National Academies of Science found itself in yesterday while hosting the State of the Science event in Washington, DC. It was an obvious opportunity for the nation's leading scientific organization to warn the nation of the consequences of the path that the current administration has been traveling. Instead, the event largely ignored the present to worry about a future that may never exist.

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With the abrupt withdrawal of the US, the World Health Organization is grappling with a brutal funding shortfall, leaving the United Nations health agency to slash top leadership and run global programs on a budget similar to that of a local hospital system.

In remarks at a budget committee meeting Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus laid out the daunting budget numbers and announced a slimmed structure, cutting senior management from 14 to seven and the number of departments from 76 to 34.

"The loss of US funding, combined with reductions in official development assistance by some other countries, mean we are facing a salary gap for the next biennium of more than US$ 500 million," Tedros said.

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NASA is considering scaling back its activities on the International Space Station, according to multiple sources. The changes, which are being considered primarily due to shortfalls in the space station budget, include:

• Reducing the size of the crew complement of Crew Dragon missions from four to three, starting with Crew-12 in February 2026
• Extending the duration of space station missions from six to eight months
• Canceling all upgrades to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer science instrument attached to the station

The changes align with a desire that was reflected in the Trump administration's "skinny budget" proposal for NASA, released last Friday, which seeks to have the US space agency reduce its activities on the ISS.

"The Budget reduces the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for a safe decommissioning of the station by 2030 and replacement by commercial space stations," stated the budget request for fiscal year 2026. "Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced. The station’s reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs."

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• We almost always get our weekly groceries at Aldi, and we've learned some money-saving tips.
• The budget grocer already has pretty good prices, but the weekly deals are often worth following.
• I try to stick to the store's perimeter and avoid looking through the Aldi Finds aisle.

My partner and I buy groceries on a budget, and we're dedicated to Aldi.

The grocery chain already offers great prices, but we've begun doing a few things there to stretch our dollars even further.

Here are a few extra things we do to save money shopping for groceries at Aldi.

We read the weekly circular before we shop.

One of the first things we do when we walk into Aldi is grab the weekly circular, which is usually stationed on a rack right by the main entrance.

The ads showcase Aldi's current deals, so it's a great guide for anyone looking to save. Oftentimes, we deliberately plan our meals around which items are on sale.

When we focus on discounted items, we also get less sidetracked by flashy deals on products we didn't intend to buy.

We avoid Aldi's premade meals and heat-and-eat dinners.

We try to avoid premade meals, heat-and-eat dinners, and specialty deli items like dips and cheeses.

Although convenient, they tend to be significantly more expensive per serving than cooking something from scratch. Instead, we stick to buying staple ingredients, like fresh produce, canned beans, tortillas, and chicken.

By focusing on these core items, we've created a weekly meal plan that's cost-effective and healthy for our lifestyle.

Although the Aldi Finds are tempting, we also try to avoid them.

The Aldi Finds aisle features unique items, seasonal treats, and specialty goods that aren't part of the store's regular inventory.

The signage might make shoppers feel like they're getting some sort of deal, but this aisle can be a trap for impulse buys.

Sometimes, we find hidden gems here, but Aldi Finds are usually not essential to our weekly shopping list. Looking through them can just lead to us spending more money.

We usually skip this aisle entirely so we're not tempted.

An empty produce box helps us carry our groceries for free.

Aldi has a bring-your-own-bag policy, so bags are not free at the register. Instead of buying them, we usually grab a large, empty produce box from the shelves.

Most Aldi stores have a section where you can find these boxes in a bin with recyclables, so it's pretty easy.

You can also just bring your own reusable bags, but we've found that the box is an even better solution for us.

It's much easier to pop one box in the trunk of our car and carry it into the house in a single trip. Once we're home, we reuse the box for storage or recycle it.

We stick to the perimeter of the store.

Shopping around the store's perimeter helps us stick to our budget.

In most Aldi locations, more basic essentials, like produce, dairy, and meats, are located around the outer edges of the store.

In contrast, the center aisles usually have Aldi Finds, holiday items, household goods, snacks, and other products that are more likely to encourage impulse purchases.

When we shop, we literally snake our way around the perimeter, only detouring into the aisles when we need something on our list. It keeps our shopping trip efficient and minimizes our exposure to nonessential items.

This story was originally published on December 12, 2024, and most recently updated on April 28, 2025.