3/11/25: Trump Administration Pauses $100 Million in Funding to U. of Maine System (Chronicle of Higher Education) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily paused the more than $100 million it provides to the University of Maine system, amid an investigation into the system’s compliance with the federal gender-equity law Title IX. In a news release Tuesday, Maine system leaders said they were forwarded an email Monday that appeared to have been sent by the office of the chief financial officer at USDA. The message told agencies within the USDA to stop dispensing funds to Columbia University and to the Maine system while the agency considered taking action on potential Title VI and Title IX violations. https://www.chronicle.com/article/trump-administration-pauses-100-million-in-funding-to-u-of-maine-system
See also: USDA Suspends All Grants for University of Maine System (Inside Higher Ed) This is the second time in less than a week that the Trump administration has pulled funding from higher ed institutions suspected of not following his policies. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/03/12/usda-freezes-federal-funding-maine-university
3/11/25: House passes bill to avert government shutdown through Sept. 30 (Axios) It still needs to pass the Senate, however, where it will need the support of at least seven Democrats to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/11/house-passes-continuing-resolution-shutdown-bill
See also: Congress comes down to the wire to keep U.S. government open (Science) https://www.science.org/content/article/congress-comes-down-wire-keep-u-s-government-open
3/11/25: Education Department Lays Off Nearly Half of Staff (Inside Higher Ed) McMahon said the reductions are a “significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.” Critics say they are reckless and will lead to chaos and confusion. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/03/11/education-department-reduce-staff-half
3/11/25: How the Trump administration is halting scientific research (NPR) I n its first 50 days, the Trump administration made sweeping changes to scientific arms of the government…The president issued executive orders to terminate all work that was related to DEI, environmental justice and gender inclusivity. In response, research was halted and thousands of people were fired — some of which was reversed. It’s a lot to keep track of, so we called in reinforcements. https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/1266983351/trump-science-medical-research-layoffs
3/11/25: NASA begins mass firings of scientists ahead of Trump team’s deadline (Nature) These are NASA’s first firings since Trump took office, and they have taken a different pattern to those at other federal agencies in the past few weeks. NASA was spared, for unknown reasons, from the extensive lay-offs of probationary employees — those with little job protection because they have been in their positions for less than two years — seen at other agencies. The move makes NASA the first agency under the current Trump administration to pre-emptively fire career employees, beginning the required ‘reductions in force’ (RIFs) sooner than many observers had anticipated. It remains unclear whether other agencies might follow NASA’s lead. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00756-2
See also: NASA terminates chief scientist role, closes policy office (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nasa-terminates-chief-scientist-role-closes-policy-office-2025-03-10/
3/11/25: Fired NIH workers fear bleak job prospects in the private sector because their research is too specific to be retrofitted: ‘No VC is going to fund that’ (Fortune) As the government purges employees, some federal workers in public health fear they won’t have better luck in the private sector. https://fortune.com/2025/03/11/fired-nih-workers-bleak-jobs-private-sector/
3/11/25: Columbia scientists reel as Trump administration cancels grants, hitting broad suite of research (STAT) Also ‘under investigation for antisemitic discrimination and harassment’ are 59 other schools. https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/11/columbia-scientists-reel-grant-cancellations-hit-broad-suite-research/
See also: Trump’s Columbia Funding Cutoff Is Illegal (Opinion, Chronicle on Higher Education) https://www.chronicle.com/article/trumps-columbia-funding-cutoff-is-illegal
3/10/25: NIH to ax grants on vaccine hesitancy, mRNA vaccines (Science) The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is abruptly terminating at least 33 research grants for projects studying why some people are hesitant to receive vaccines or evaluating strategies that could encourage vaccine uptake, Science has learned. An additional nine grants may be modified or cut back. Scientists who received these grants began to receive termination letters this evening. https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-ax-grants-vaccine-hesitancy-mrna-vaccines
3/10/25: Pentagon abruptly ends all funding for social science research (Science) 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.” https://www.science.org/content/article/pentagon-abruptly-ends-all-funding-social-science-research
3/10/25: Trump’s health picks face Senate test (Politico) On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on whether to approve Dr. Marty Makary as FDA commissioner and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as NIH director . https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-pulse/2025/03/10/trumps-health-picks-face-senate-test-00220153
3/10/25: How the NIH dominates the world’s health research — in charts (Nature) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00754-4
3/9/25: Trump’s Agenda Is Undermining American Science (New Yorker, Comment) Research funded by the federal government has found useful expression in many of the defining technologies of our time. This Administration threatens that progress. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/03/17/trumps-agenda-is-undermining-american-science
