Well, I guess we should close the patent office eh? Look - the "do more with less" trope is not how you get cutting edge science done. We're not talking Bunsen burners and test tubes here. The technology behind scientific research is neither simple nor cheap. The proposed cuts are back to 2008 levels and NOT adjusted for inflation for the DOE. 17% for Basic Energy Sciences; Biological and Environmental 43%; NOAA 22%; and on and on.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/what-s-trump-s-2018-budget-request-science

These are not belt tightening actions, they are targeted cuts that have a strong political flavor. Shades of Lysenko. If you think gaining knowledge is expensive, try ignorance.