Emily Mann

Spoke with someone who works with a public hospital system. His assessment of the effects of the GOP spending bill: “I think this is going to be a very apparent catastrophe, very quickly.”

Resident of said district here and no he has not.

The ‘WTF Is Happening’ Guide to the Planned Parenthood Case at the Supreme Court Here’s everything you need to know about the South Carolina lawsuit that has national implications for birth control, STI testing, and more.

Oral arguments in Medina v. PP South Atlantic beginning shortly, at 10am ET. @susanrinkunas.com has this helpful explainer on the case: www.jezebel.com/the-wtf-is-h...

My live coverage will be in this thread.

Scientists need to realize this list will grow. It used to be abortion and climate change. Staying quiet won’t keep your area off lists like this.

Judith Butler, philosopher: ‘If you sacrifice a minority like trans people, you are operating within a fascist logic’ A leading figure in feminism and gender studies, the thinker welcomes EL PAÍS in California after being voted one of the most influential minds in the world

Judith Butler: "Once you decide that a single vulnerable minority can be sacrificed, you’re operating within a fascist logic, because that means there might be a second one you’re willing to sacrifice, and a third, a fourth, and then what happens?"

Heat map showing percentages of births in each state across the US. Data on https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/births-financed-by-medicaid/

🚨Reminder! 🚨Republicans are behind closed doors right now trying to figure out how to cut 880 billion from medicaid. Medicaid covers 41% of births in the US millions of children, and millions of people with disabilities. Keep up the pressure! Call your electeds!

Committee meeting starts now on H. 3927, the anti-DEI bill. Livestream here: www.scstatehouse.gov/video/stream...

Do you know of anyone who is going to be live skeeting about the hearing on H. 3927 this afternoon?

South Carolina House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee is holding a hearing this morning on a total abortion ban (House bill 3457). Details are here: my.lwv.org/south-caroli... Follow @psabortionfund.bsky.social for updates ⬇️

Why do academics treat Facebook like it’s LinkedIn?

Educators Sue to Challenge Trump Administration's Efforts to Weaponize Civil Rights Laws, Attack Educational Programs and Student Opportunities - Democracy Forward

The ASA, American Federation of Teachers @AFT, and AFT-Maryland, facilitated by @DemocracyForward, have filed a complaint today in federal court in Maryland challenging the “Dear Colleague Letter” published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

House Republicans just voted to gut Medicaid, which covers 1 in 5 Americans overall, including 41% of births and 63% of nursing home care.

They also just voted to gut SNAP, on which 41 million food insecure Americans rely.

This won’t just harm people. This will kill people.

They own this.

NIH indirects case update:

Hearing ongoing now, and I'll try to live tweet some notable exchanges.

Prior to more detailed arguments, Judge Kelley starts off with a few point questions to both sides:

(I'm paraphrasing here)

NIH indirects case update:

- 2 notable amicus petitions in support of plaintiffs: one from MassBio, a consortium of pharma companies, and one from the Public Rights Project and 45 different cities.
- Hearing tomorrow (2/21) at 10a EST re a prelim injunction.

Notes from amici 👇

"[NSF] provides 25% of federal support for basic research at US colleges and universities and it backs more than 350,000 researchers, students and teachers...It has a budget of $9.06 billion for fiscal year 2024."

I was having a productive day before I decided to come on here and see the latest 😣

Credit freeze: Your guide to protecting your credit Understand how a credit freeze with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion can protect your credit report from identity theft. Our guide provides step-by-step instructions and answers frequently asked ques...

For real folks, better to be careful and freeze your credit now, it’s free, doesn’t affect your score, and you can do it online: www.businessinsider.com/personal-fin...

This preoccupies me to no end.

At the direction of RFK Jr., America’s newly confirmed secretary of Health and Human Services, the CDC has suddenly fired nearly 1,300 employees in a single day. 10% of America’s vital team of health experts — considered global leaders in disease control — have been axed.

Although HHS…

In case you missed it overnight

Judge expanded pause on NIH's funding cuts to all states, after AAMC lawsuit

"in any form with respect to institutions nationwide until further order is issued by this Court"

www.aamc.org/news/press-r...

The Path to American Authoritarianism What comes after democratic breakdown.

There is no clearer voice on democratic erosion than Steven Levitsky.

This piece is perfect. It will help clarify the worried thoughts of those who already know things are bad, but it also explains what is happening to those who don't yet know.

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Trump maintains funding freeze at NIH, defying court order The Trump administration is still prohibiting National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff from issuing virtually all grant funding, an NIH official tells Popular Information.

BREAKING

The Trump administration is maintaining a funding freeze at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in defiance of two federal court orders.

The ongoing freeze was confirmed by an NIH official and internal correspondence reviewed by Popular Information.

Case 1:25-cv-10338 Document 1 Filed 02/10/25 Page 4 of 59 6. In 2017, during his first administration, President Trump made a budget proposal that would have reduced the indirect cost rate for research institutions to an across-the-board, categorical rate of 10%. Congress unequivocally responded to ward off such a change to the calculation of indirect cost rates. In 2018, Congress enacted an appropriations rider prohibiting HHS or NIH from spending appropriated funds "to develop or implement a modified approach to" the reimbursement of "indirect costs" and "deviations from negotiated rates." Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-141, 132 Stat 348, § 226. That rider has remained in effect through every appropriations law governing HHS to this day. See Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, Pub. L. No. 118-47, § 224. 7. On February 7, 2025, NIH nonetheless issued a guidance document pronouncing that all indirect cost rates for NIH grants would be reduced to 15%, in Notice Number NOT- OD-25-068, Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates (the "Rate Change Notice"). This reduction applies not only to new grants but to existing grants, and becomes effective on February 10, 2025, just one business day after the Rate Change Notice issued.

The 22 state AGs note that in 2017, Trump proposed a similar across-the-board rate cut, but Congress rejected it.
In 2018 & every year since, Congress has enacted an appropriations rider forbidding NIH from pursuing an across-the-board rate cut.

22 states sue to block Trump administration cuts to NIH research payments Attorneys general sued the Trump administration to block a NIH decision that would slash grant payments for research overhead

22 states have filed suit, arguing that NIH’s abrupt decision to set a 15% cap on payments on overheard costs linked to research would cause major harm to university and medical center budgets, jeopardizing basic operations and scientific research.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/10/n...

I was vaguely prepared for the Friday night dump of horrible policy announcements but I did not have a 15% IDC cap on current and future NIH grants on my bingo card.

Very important thread on what the new 15% cap on IDC for federal grants means for research universities and beyond.

⚠️ Effective Monday 2/10/25, NIH indirect rate capped at 15%. Applies to existing & future grants.

—> Deep budget cuts & program closures coming to a university near you.

Is this the break the glass moment for university administrators who have been silent so far about the attack on science?

A must read.

Announcement for a SPECIAL PANEL ON THE TREASURY with pictures of two speakers. About this event: What is at stake with the Treasury's payment systems? Recent events make this question more pertinent than ever before. Cutting across governance, policy, economic regulation, and the bureaucracies that sit at the core of the democratic state, the Treasury's financial pipes and plumbing are critical for the nation's well-being. In this special session, Elizabeth Popp Berman (U Michigan) and Abraham Newman (Georgetown U) will discuss why these systems matter as well as the risks posed by their capture by non-state actors. Please join us on Thursday, February 6 at 11 AM PST/ 2 PM EST for what will surely be an excellent conversation. Please register here: https://ucsd.zoom.us/meeting/register/uSxuanM2TEWy5Hqn4-7KVg

A panel on the Treasury this Thursday, with the incredible @epopppp.bsky.social and @abenewman.bsky.social.

This is not just for academics. Everyone needs to understand what's happening right now. Spread the word!

We can confirm that the communication ban at CDC (and presumably all of HHS) has been extended for at least another week with no specified end date. No external communication with local, state, or territorial health departments, healthcare systems, or the public. In the setting of ongoing outbreaks.