News

NIH

NIH order on indirect costs (News, Feb. 7) "NIH plans to slash support for indirect research costs, sending shockwaves through science" STAT "The National Institutes of Health, the nation’s premier funder of biomedical research, announced Friday night that it will immediately slash support for 'indirect costs' paid to universities, medical centers, and other research grant recipients, funding that the nation’s science enterprise relies on for basic operating costs. ... Going forward, the rate of support will now be 15% for new and existing grants." (Text of the NIH order) "Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates" Notice Number: NOT-OD-25-06.
On March 5, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelly ordered a nation-wide preliminary injunction which keeps the Administration from implementing the policy change while lawsuits continue. [Update courtesy of COSSA]

[Statements and Resources] "APLU Statement on Cuts to Reimbursement of NIH Facilities & Administrative Costs" (Feb. 7)
"NIH In Your State" United For Medical Research. "Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America."
(Derek Lowe opinion blog in Science) "The Continuing Crisis" Part 5 [Feb. 21] Part 4 [Feb. 17] Part 3 [Feb. 10] Part 2 [Feb. 6]  Part 1 [Feb. 5] Additional news articles available on ScienceInsider   

"NIH scraps program to diversify the biomedical workforce, a longtime goal of science" STAT (Feb. 7) "Grant reviewers told to set aside applications from marginalized Ph.D. students."
Henry Carnell, "America Will Pay Dearly for the NIH’s Mindless War on Wokeness and DEI" Mother Jones (Feb. 17) 
"U.S. early-career researchers struggling amid chaos" Science (Feb. 21) 
"NIH Funding Cuts Could Have Ripple Effects on College-Town Economies" Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription, Feb. 25)
"Pain for Everyone: How Trump’s “indirect costs” cap at the NIH would hurt undergrads too" Slate (Feb. 26)
"Exclusive: NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants" Nature (Mar. 6) "Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by Nature."
"NIH cuts funding for vaccine-hesitancy research. mRNA research may be next" NPR (Mar. 12)
"NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion In FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report" Forbes (Mar. 12)

NSF

NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders “This page provides information regarding recent executive orders and their impact on the U.S. National Science Foundation community. This page is being updated often; please check back regularly for information.” (The page has been updated frequently, with the addition of an FAQ section.) See also, "Here are the words putting science in the crosshairs of Trump’s orders," The Washington Post (February 4, 2025) [Partial PDF version here]

[News reports] “EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders” (Science, Jan. 30) Additional news articles available on ScienceInsider

"National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues" Wired (requires subscription, Feb. 18)
"The National Science Foundation - this is not business as usual" nanoscale views (Feb. 19)
"NSF brings back 84 fired workers after judge blocks White House–ordered dismissals" Science Insider (Mar. 3)

"48 Scientific Societies Representing Almost 100,000 Scientists Ask Congress to Protect the Future of Science" Union of Concerned Scientists (Mar. 3)

Department of Education

[Original "Dear Colleague" letter (DCL) from OCR] Inside Higher Ed "Ed Department: DEI Violates Civil Rights Law" (Feb. 15) "The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights declared all race-conscious student programming, resources and financial aid illegal over the weekend and threatened to investigate and rescind federal funding for any institution that does not comply within 14 days." (Original "Dear Colleague" letter available here. [PDF])

[Responses] "PEN America Condemns Education Department’s Threat to Defund Schools Over DEI Programs" (Feb. 15)
Memo from law professors, "DEI Programs Are Lawful Under Federal Civil Rights Laws and Supreme Court Precedent" [PDF] (Feb. 20)
Letter from Congress objecting to “Department of Government Efficiency” actions at the Department of Education (Feb. 21)
Shaun Harper, "A Dear Colleague Letter in Defense of DEI" Inside Higher Ed (Feb. 21)
"ASA Joins Lawsuit against the Department of Education" in our News section (Feb. 26)
Letter from many higher education associations (Feb. 25) "...we respectfully request that the Department rescind the DCL and
engage with the higher education community to ensure a clear understanding of their legal obligations in this area."
"What Does the The Education Department's Anti-Opportunity 'Dear Colleague Letter' Mean for Schools?" NAACP Legal Defense Fund (Mar. 3)

["End DEI" portal] "U.S. Department of Education Launches “End DEI” Portal" (Feb. 27) "...a public portal for parents, students, teachers, and the broader community to submit reports of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly-funded K-12 schools. ... The Department of Education will use submissions as a guide to identify potential areas for investigation."  [The portal is open for comments as of 3/1.]

[Dismantling the Dept. of Ed] "Secretary McMahon: Our Department's Final Mission" (Mar. 3)
"Education Department Lays Off Nearly Half of Staff" Inside Higher Ed (Mar. 11)
"Democratic Attorneys General Sue Trump to Protect Education Department" Truthout (Mar. 14)
The American Educational Research Association (AERA, Mar. 14) issued an urgent warning "that all restricted-use NCES [Nat'l Center for Education Statistics] data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20."
"Trump orders a plan to dismantle the Education Department while keeping some core functions" (Mar. 20) AP News coverage Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)

[Responses] "Cutting education is an ‘America last’ not an ‘America first’ approach" Commentary, Brookings Institution (Feb. 26)
"A Statement by Teachers College, Columbia University Faculty: The Attack on American Education, from our Perspective" (Mar. 19)

[Allegations of antisemitism] "U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment" Dept. of Education (Mar. 10)
Response to Columbia U. letter from Columbia law faculty members, "A Title VI Demand Letter That Itself Violates Title VI (and the Constitution)" (Mar. 15)

"We Are Higher Ed" collective action website in formation. (Mar. 26) "We are a coalition of educators and allies driven by our belief that a democracy is only as strong as its commitments to academic freedom, intellectual integrity, human diversity and individual dignity." The website consolidates multiple calls to action and event listings, and provides a contact for further engagement.

Other agencies and organizations

NPR “Census Bureau Director Robert Santos is resigning, making way for Trump's pick” (January 30, 2025) “The director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Robert Santos, announced Thursday he is resigning, giving President Trump an early opportunity to nominate a new political appointee to lead the agency.”
"Census Bureau under Trump seeks permission to delete questions about gender identity" The Independent (Mar. 4)

"National Academies is altering pending reports to appease Trump administration, some members say" STAT (Feb. 20)

"Pentagon abruptly ends all funding for social science research" Science (Mar. 10) "The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is ending all of its funding for social science research, stopping 91 ongoing studies related to threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation. In a press release issued late on Friday, the department wrote that it would 'focus on the most impactful technologies' and that research it funds 'must address pressing needs to develop and field advanced military capabilities.' '[DOD] does not do climate change crap,' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X on Sunday. 'We do training and war fighting.' The cuts include the entire Minerva Research Initiative, a landmark project established in 2008 “to help DOD better understand and prepare for future challenges.' ”

"Good Policy Requires Good Data" Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown U. (Mar. 11) "We need to demonstrate how good data improve people’s daily lives. Destroying the remarkable data capacity we’ve built over the past few decades will leave us limping into the future instead of leading it."

Data Foundation Statement on Changes to Federal Evaluation Activities (Feb. 14) "Data Foundation documents rapid changes to federal evaluation capacity, including elimination of research offices across agencies, threatening government's ability to measure program effectiveness. "

The Association of Public Data Users issued a statement on February 1, 2025, that begins, in part "...on January 31, 2025, the administration began removing crucial data from public, federal government websites, including the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System–information that is used to address critical issues like teen suicide–and content related to sexual orientation and gender identity. ... Removing access to taxpayer funded public data from the public domain is unethical and contrary to the principle that these data are for the public and public good. It also sets a dangerous precedent that any administration could withhold public data for any reason." (ASA President Adia Harvey Wingfield issued a similar warning on the same date.)

CDC "Forbidden Terms" regarding gender: (Feb. 1) The independent news outlet Inside Medicine reports that "the CDC has instructed its scientists to retract or pause the publication of any research manuscript being considered by any medical or scientific journal, not merely its own internal periodicals. ... The move aims to ensure that no 'forbidden terms' appear in the work. ... CDC researchers were instructed to remove references to or mentions of a list of forbidden terms: 'Gender, transgender, pregnant person, pregnant people, LGBT, transsexual, non-binary, nonbinary, assigned male at birth, assigned female at birth, biologically male, biologically female,' according to an email sent to CDC employees.” (Feb. 4) Opinion: "Medical journal editors must resist CDC order and anti-gender ideology" BMJ "Publication ethics and professional standards define the work of medical journals, editors, and researchers. These are safeguards of best scientific practice and integrity—and will not yield to bad practice like gag orders, suppression, and authoritarian whims." (Related, Feb. 5) "Joint Letter Objecting to Censorship in New White House Executive Order on Gender Identity" Letter Signed by More Than 50 Organizations Representing Authors, Publishers, Booksellers, Librarians and Advocacy Nonprofits.

"CDC Staff Prohibited From Co-Authoring Papers With World Health Organization Personnel" Huffington Post (Feb. 28)
"In a sudden reversal, CDC rescinds some staff firings" NPR (Mar. 4)