The National Science Foundation, one of the biggest sources of federal research funding, withheld $1.4 billion that Congress had intended for research over the course of the past year, according to internal data reviewed by The New York Times.

The extraordinary move — holding back about one-fifth of the NSF’s primary research budget — is the latest sign of how the Trump administration is finding creative ways to work around Congress. Lawmakers from both parties have consistently opposed White House-led proposals to cut funding to major science agencies, including the NSF and the National Institutes of Health.

Since the NSF was founded over 75 years ago, the agency has spent nearly all of its budget on so-called basic research from a wide range of scientific fields, which has led to major advances in technology such as MRIs, semiconductors and the internet.

The White House wants to redirect the money to a limited set of administration priorities, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, according to two people with knowledge of the administration’s plans.

Congress appropriates money to the NSF on two-year cycles, so the agency could still spend the held-over money in the new fiscal year, which began Thursday.

But Democratic lawmakers see the strategy as more of a political power grab by the White House.

“The money should be granted as Congress intended, and essentially, they’re ignoring what Congress did,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the Science, Space and Technology Committee. “It’s a dramatic attack on the science enterprise that has served us very well since World War II, when this whole system was set up,” Lofgren added.

The White House and the NSF said that diverting the money was allowed under Congress’ two-year appropriation.

Mike England, a spokesperson for the science foundation, said in a statement that the agency had “carried over funds to invest in agency priorities that are aligned with broader administration initiatives.”

England said the agency “remains committed to investing in meritorious foundational research across the sciences and engineering that advances American scientific leadership.”

Several people with knowledge of the situation described confusion inside the agency as the staff complied with White House guidance to carry over money as funding deadlines neared. Some divisions had to pull back research proposals that were recommended for funding after peer review, these officials said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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