Lawmakers and tech experts said today that Congress needs to sharply boost the Federal government’s proposed funding of for quantum technology in the fiscal year 2026 budget – to as much as twice recent levels – and argued that kind of increase is crucial for the United States to stay competitive with China in the race for quantum innovation and to set the tone for more private sector investment in the technology.
“[China wants] to dominate this field, they want to have the world’s leading technology,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who serves as ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, while speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on May 16.
“They have invested, I guess, maybe multiples of the amount of money that we have invested at the Federal level,” the congressman added. “We invest a lot more at the private sector level in the United States than they do, but they invest so much from the state that we have to do everything we can to at least do our Federal share, even at the same time that we’re trying to cultivate conditions from a private investment.”
The Trump administration’s budget proposal released earlier this month slashed the National Science Foundation’s current budget in half, while only maintaining current funding levels for programs related to artificial intelligence and quantum.
Rep. Krishnamoorthi noted that the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA) may not even be enough to maintain quantum innovations, especially with mass Federal government workforce cuts. Portions of the act – approved by Congress in 2018 to establish a Federal program to accelerate quantum research and development – are up for reauthorization this year after funding for some research and development activities expired in September 2023.
“You need private sector talent for sure, but you also need public sector talent to be able to direct the funding and to oversee it in the most efficacious way,” said the congressman. “I’m concerned that we’re kind of in the situation where not only is the national quantum initiative funding not where it needs to be, but the people who are in charge of administering these programs – making sure they make sense – are also under threat.”
The CSIS Commission on U.S. Quantum Leadership has proposed that Congress double current appropriation levels to meet the United States’ goals. James Lewis, co-director of the commission, said today that the increase would only equate to 0.5 percent of the national budget’s discretionary funds.
“This is a national security priority on term, it’s also an economic priority … it takes a while to figure out how to commercialize these things, but the country that figures out how to commercialize it does a lot better,” said Lewis.
Increasing that funding could also bolster private sector investment – which experts at a House hearing last week said would be necessary to stay competitive with limited Federal support – or it could decrease that investment, Rep. Krishnamoorthi warned.
“If we don’t send a strong signal at the Federal level and consistently at least maintain funding, if not increase it, we’re going to deter private sector investment as well,” he said. “And then it’s likely [that] it might shift to other places, including Europe.”