It’s now been more than nine months that President Trump and his administration have been back in the White House. And as the administration tightens its grip on the federal government, its campaign against federal government science continues.
So far, we’ve tracked 521 attacks on science. This means that there have been 521 actions, decisions, and policies that undermine, sideline, or ignore the best available science in the federal government. This is, of course, not a comprehensive representation of all the anti-science actions that may have occurred in the federal government since Inauguration—it’s just what we’ve been able to document.
The longest government shut down in American history recently concluded. On top of the Trump administration’s blatant weaponization of an already scary situation for millions across the country, the scientific work of federal agencies decreased immensely during this time period, endangering advancements in research and the health and safety of all those who benefit from it.
I hate to continue to be the bearer of bad news. But at the same time, I hope seeing this pattern doesn’t overwhelm you, but rather helps you feel emboldened to support our efforts to defend independent science. It is truly more important than ever to join together and push back on the increasing authoritarian threat to our federal scientific systems and our democracy. As always, you can find more resources at the bottom of this page on how you can help us do just that.
A selective shutdown
One development that threw federal science into further chaos: the federal government shut down starting on October 1, an impasse that went on for more than a month. A government shutdown is not new to the U.S., nor even to President Trump, but this shutdown came with some unique threats.
In many ways, what happens during a government shutdown is relatively intuitive: when Congress, which sets funding levels by law, can’t come to agreement on how the government will spend its money, many government functions described as “non-essential” are paused until they can pass a resolution. In practice, this manifests in a few different ways.
The horrible reality for hundreds of thousands of federal workers (including federal scientists and those that work in science agencies) was that they didn’t receive pay during the government shutdown, and, in some cases, were expected to work without pay. Critical government programs that literally help people survive were in danger of being put on hold, or actually paused.
This time around, the Trump administration used the shutdown as an opportunity to achieve their political goals, including threatening mass firings of federal employees.
We also saw some consistencies across federal agencies as to what kind of research and scientific work was de-prioritized.
The administration’s actions during the shutdown included a halt on new grants and contracts, a pause on grant review panels (where applications for federal funding are reviewed (ideally by subject matter experts, though the Trump administration has begun to insert political appointees into the process), a halt to data collection and analysis. We saw this play out at science agencies like the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as all of its subagencies, including the National Institutes of Health.
Not only did these pauses put the integrity of ongoing research at risk, but it also stopped the clock on funding for new studies that could test a lifesaving medical treatment, identify a dangerous chemical in our environment, or implement better tracking of extreme natural disasters.
And to add more complication, each agency’s contingency plan (the plans that each agency implemented for the number of staff, activities, and programs it allowed to continue to work during the shutdown) differed based on its own existing budget and work areas. For example, EPA did not monitor polluting facilities to make sure they’re complying with regulations meant to protect people from exposure to dangerous levels of chemicals.
But one of the most alarming aspects of this most recent government shutdown was how the Trump administration took advantage of an already bad situation to attack federal scientific systems. It started out the month of October with layoffs at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Although some of the layoffs were almost immediately reversed, some scientists still have not been brought back.
These included scientists who help keep us safe from disease outbreaks and chemicals, as well as scientists dedicated to continuing one of the most comprehensive nutrition surveys in existence (a survey that regularly helped inform science-driven public policy). Worst still, there was an ongoing threat of even more layoffs hanging over the heads of federal workers at the behest of the administration during the shutdown, a fight that drew lawsuits and played out in court for weeks.
This all came, of course, at the expense of federal workers’ peace of mind, as many public servants who were being asked to work without pay or not getting paid at all.
And as one of the more recent examples of blatant politicization of federal funding, during the shutdown the Trump administration also threatened to permanently cut federal funding that it deems “not relevant” to its agenda, and targeting states that didn’t vote for President Trump in the 2024 general election.
All this deliberate chaos was occurring while the administration made it so permitting and rule-making that aligned with its priorities continued to proceed, while most everything else that was considered “non-essential” had been paused. The Department of the Interior continued issuing permits to commence oil and gas drilling on protected land, and EPA initiated a new rulemaking process that would effectively weaken the protections in place that prevent communities and workers from being exposed to toxic chemicals, to name a few examples.
Last week, Congress passed and the President signed a new budget resolution that re-opened the government, through January 30th for most agencies. That puts federal employees back to work—and the deal also rescinded some of the administration’s threatened layoffs—but it doesn’t mean science and science-based programs are out of danger.
Pushing back
With this onslaught of unjust actions and attacks, it’s more important than ever for us to work as a team to defend federal science. Here are a few ways that you can help:
- There’s a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives called The Scientific Integrity (SI) Act. This law would better prevent political appointees or elected officials from politically targeting programs and initiatives that don’t align with the current administration’s priorities. It would make scientific integrity protections universal across all federal agencies that fund, conduct, and oversee scientific work. If you want to help us codify protections for federal scientists and their work into law, please urge your Congressional Representatives to co-sponsor the SI Act. You can contact your Rep easily using this link.
- Relatedly, you can stay up to date on any other SI related action using this link.
- One of the government programs that was politically targeted during the shutdown by the Trump administration is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This program helps feed millions of families across the country, many of those with children, veterans, and/or people with disabilities. Although the benefits have resumed with the government re-opening, you can still contact Secretary Rollins (of the Department of Agriculture) using this link and urge her to not play politics with children’s nutrition.
- It’s been a particularly rough month for federal workers and scientists. We’ve compiled a list of resources for federal scientists that help them know their rights, protect themselves from attack, and connect them with community. Send the federal scientists in your life our Resources for Federal Scientists.