‘It’s a nightmare.’ U.S. funding cuts threaten academic science jobs at all levels “There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research,” one Ph.D. student says

For 80 years, the United States led the world in science and engineering.

We could lose that position in a single year.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Every American should read this ACLU lawsuit about what is happening in Los Angeles and California. It is the stuff of dystopian nightmares. This is not immigration enforcement. It is positively stuffed with videos and articles documenting racial profiling on a scale unseen since Jim Crow.

Black America can't afford to wait as Trump's budget wrecks our communities Change might come with the next election, but the doors are closing for us now.

Medicaid gutted, SNAP slashed, student aid squeezed—Trump's new bill hits Black communities hardest. Bishop Reginald T. Jackson warns that waiting is not an option.

White House Launches Another Assault on Science Funding, Targeting NSF, EPA The Trump administration is targeting still more federal science funding, this time more than $30 billion at the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation and other agencies

The Trump admin has launched another assault on science, targeting over $30B of funding.

This is a wide-sweeping crisis - a direct assault on Congress, the law, AND public science.

This fight for science is just as much a fight for democracy. #StandUpForScience


zurl.co/NA6BY

political press is doing a real disservice by basically not reporting the nuances of public opinion on deportations, and creating the appearance that most americans support the stephen miller-style gestapo tactics

This is bad. Republicans have fixed the contempt provision in the billionaire bailout bill so bond has to cover the costs. It can’t be $1 anymore. This will neutralize the court’s ability to hold Trump in contempt, and only rich people will be able to file injunctions against the government.

“We should make no mistake about President Donald Trump’s strategy: He is trying to install himself as provost of our university. He seemingly wants to dictate who can be admitted, what classes can be taught and which professors should be fired.”

Progressives Need to Stand Up for LaMonica McIver The charges against McIver are a form of political intimidation—one directed with particular force against Black politicians—but that intimidation will only work if the people don’t have McIver’s back...

If you want elected Democrats to "fight" you best understand that it will be *Black* Democrats on those front lines. And so you best have their backs when they're unconstitutionally asked to suffer the consequences.
Defend Rep @replamonica.bsky.social
My latest in @thenation.com

This is blistering, spectacular, and worth your time to read.

Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself

New Forbes story about the economic consequences of science cuts.

www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

Thoughtful and thorough analysis.

1/n

Columbia welcomes its newest faculty hires

people need to internalize, very quickly, that federal research grants are a hypercompetitive contracting process not charity, and that what Uncle Sam gets in return for that money is American dominance in the future

"Imagine the auto industry without 3D printing. NSF funded that. Artificial intelligence? NSF. MRI machines that help doctors diagnose you? NSF. Doppler radar technology that makes aviation safer by conquering wind shear? NSF. Duolingo‘s underlying programming? NSF. The internet itself? NSF."

Wow so cool! Wish we had this when I was starting out… ;)

Hegseth is consolidating military power and centralizing political control. By reducing the number of 4-stars he doesn't trust — and merging commands under those he does — he heads off the possibility that senior military leaders will disobey unlawful orders to attack Americans when the time comes.

NIH insiders: Trump is ‘dismantling and destroying everything’ After just 100 days, agency scientists say U.S. health institutes are demoralized and have lost essential staff and funding

“However bad everyone on the outside thinks it is, it is a million times worse. They’re dismantling and destroying everything.”

Read, share, respond. Call your representatives.

The health and well-being of Americans & America's innovation economy are at stake.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

🔔BREAKING🔔

The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.

This is censorship disguised as oversight.

Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Fortune 500 company abruptly fires lawyer who helped immigrant family On March 4, Clay Jackson, an attorney in the Dallas area, was at a gas station near his home when the attendant asked if he would help a local immigrant family.

1. Clay Jackson, a Texas lawyer, provided basic legal advice to an immigrant family fearing deportation

Then, two officers visited him at his home, accusing him of "obstructing an ongoing immigration investigation"

Then, after speaking publicly, he was fired from his job at a Fortune 500 company

In 100 days in office, US President Donald Trump has destabilized eight decades of government support for science.

This has included terminating more than 1,000 grants in areas such as climate change, cancer, and HIV prevention.

Will US science survive Trump 2.0?

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trump’s Newest Executive Order “Unleashes” the Cops—and Flirts With Martial Law The new order effectively allows police to get away with murder. And that’s just the beginning.

Donald Trump's "Unleash the Cops" executive order is being rightly read as a prelude to martial law.
But don't miss the other thing its doing: making the cops functionally unaccountable when they commit crimes.
My latest in @thenation.com

www.thenation.com/article/poli...

As the federal govt considers “investigating” ActBlue, I can report that i sat through meeting where they literally patterned their version of it, called WinRed as identical. They even follow me (screenshot for when they unfollow in a panic soon:

To be clear, this is a new product that Novavax is trying to introduce to the market with a study of a different product from 2021. New products require new clinical studies. Under this administration, we are prioritizing the Gold Standard of Science--not what saves pharma companies "tens of millions of dollars." Headline: "FDA Asks Vaccine Maker to Complete New Clinical Trial for Delayed Covid-19 shot"

Again, they're trying to take away our vaccines.

From the head of the FDA, a gross misrepresentation of the annual process of updating a proven vaccine to target new disease strains.

His plan would make it impossible to get seasonal flu and Covid shots, and of course he knows this.

Given that there is no civil disorder, insurrection or armed rebellion at present, senior military leaders need to consult with their JAG officers *now* about the potential need to disobey unlawful orders. They should also consult with Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

A Lengthy Legal Battle in North Carolina Could Show How to Flip an Election Even as Republicans suffer setbacks in their fight to overturn a loss in a State Supreme Court race, judges have shown a striking willingness to entertain the long-shot challenges.

“The big story here is that never, ever, ever before have we seen a court, months after an election, change election rules to retroactively disqualify a class of voters and flip the results. If you can do that, no election is safe — period,” @anne-tindall.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/u...

You'd be surprised how many people with money in tech have forgotten how many businesses started with government funding research and universities, especially here in Silicon Valley proper.

Leonard Zeskind, Who Foresaw the Rise of White Nationalism, Dies at 75 (Gift Article) With “Blood and Politics,” he predicted that anti-immigrant ideologies would become part of mainstream American politics, and warned about downplaying the threat.

RIP Leonard Zeskind, whose book about the rise of white nationalism was just purged by the U.S. Naval Academy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/u...

This is important for scientists to understand. It may feel difficult now, but we can push on public opinion and we CAN win.

Keep pushing, get out the word about Trump attacks on NIH and medical cures. And one day the dam will crack and Trump will be finished.

In Poland, we know all about fighting illiberal regimes. Here are our lessons for the Trump age | Jarosław Kuisz and Karolina Wigura Our political history is one of catastrophe, communism, and developing powerful antibodies against oppression, say Jarosław Kuisz and Karolina Wigura

Good article with direct and specific advice gained through experience www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...