Popular Oregon museum impacted by Trump’s funding freeze

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry paused most of its federally funded work on March 1 amid uncertainty with the federal funding freeze.

The Portland Museum has about 20 federally funded projects, which are at various stages of completion, according to information provided by OMSI. The federal grants total about $1 million, or about 5% of OMSI’s total annual operating budget of approximately $22 million.

The museum received notice of a funding freeze in late February. The grants are under review.

“We hope to have more clarity soon about whether federal agencies will be able to follow-through on their grant awards and funding commitments,” Erin Graham, president and chief executive officer of OMSI, said in written responses.

The Trump administration — guided by billionaire Elon Musk — has frozen federal funding and grants as part of a larger plan to shrink the federal workforce and reduce federal spending. However, most of the frozen funds, if not all, had already been appropriated by Congress.

On Thursday, a second federal judge in Rhode Island ruled to keep a block in place on the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze payments of federal grants and funding for other programs approved by Congress. The Trump administration in late January rescinded the funding freeze after facing legal challenges and judicial intervention. But it later said the pause was necessary to carry out a review of programs that didn’t align with the administration’s priorities.

“OMSI’s teams will reassess the pause on federally funded projects beginning on March 14th when Congress either passes a Continuing Resolution,” Graham said, “or a budget to fund the federal government and more information is available.”

OMSI’s Wildfire and Human Health in a Changing Climate project is among the 20 that are federally funded and impacted, she said. The project focuses on “developing a new traveling exhibit and programming to engage youth in climate change and its impact” on communities. Another federally funded initiative is the Advancing Discovery project that will update OMSI’s popular labs with new exhibits and experiences.

“The paused projects are important to both OMSI and our partners with whom we’re working, and we truly hope our previously awarded funding is honored,” Graham said. “We are planning multiple scenarios and continuing to advance the initiatives funded by private philanthropy and our operations.”

Asked about the various scenarios, spokesperson Annemarie Eayrs said, “there’s a constant reevaluation on that” because information is constantly changing, but leadership has looked at projects that haven’t started, for example, and that could potentially be pushed back.

Meanwhile, museum visitors have seen little change, so far, but that could change.

“While the federal funding freeze has minimal impact on the museum in the near-term,” Graham said, “extension of the freeze will impact our ability to innovate and to provide new engaging learning experiences.”

OMSI, recognized by some as one of the top science museums in the country, said it served 1.1 million people last year. Part of the museum’s mission is to “inspire curiosity through engaging science learning experiences,” according to its website.

Yesenia Amaro is an investigative reporter with a focus on social issues and communities of color.