It was one of those head-snapping, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it weeks in Washington, D.C. Many U.S. science agencies abruptly abandoned normal operations last week to focus on a slew of executive orders from President Donald Trump targeting what he calls “woke gender ideology;” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); foreign aid; the “green new deal;” and support for “nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest.” Those orders, which began to flow just hours after Trump’s 20 January inauguration, led agencies to temporarily suspend new awards, review existing grants, block grantee access to funds already allocated, and halt meetings of grant-review panels. They also removed calls for proposals in specific areas, websites, and access to public databases that deal with now off-limits topics. Adding to the chaos: a 27 January White House memo intended to freeze huge chunks of federal spending deemed to violate the executive orders.
The torrent of activity left many researchers bewildered—and fearful of what might come next.
As Science went to press, a few agencies had backed off some of their initial steps. The National Science Foundation (NSF), which had blocked grantee access to its cash management system, lifted the hold on 2 February. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which hadn’t frozen grants but canceled key funding meetings, expected to resume at least some meetings of committees that review proposals. And two federal judges, ruling on different lawsuits, blocked implementation of the memo that froze funding, which the White House soon withdrew.
Yet many scientists remain in limbo at thousands of academic institutions and nongovernmental agencies that rely on federal research grants. And some lawmakers, especially Democrats, are complaining vociferously that agency attempts to comply with Trump’s executive orders violate laws that govern many science agencies. The laws “are not optional, and they cannot be unilaterally wished away by executive order,” Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA), the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives science committee, warned in a 2 February letter to the heads of five major research agencies, urging them to fight back.
More: https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-orders-cause-chaos-science-agencies
