The headline “Scientists, Feeling Under Siege, March Against Trump Policies” refers to the March for Science, a large-scale international protest that first took place on Earth Day, April 22, 2017, in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of satellite locations worldwide.
The primary motivation for the march was a collective belief among many in the scientific community that the policies and rhetoric of the Trump administration posed a significant threat to the integrity, funding, and independence of U.S. science.
🛑 Key Concerns Leading to the March
Scientists’ concerns centered on several proposed and actual actions by the administration that they viewed as “anti-science” or hostile to evidence-based policymaking:
- Proposed Budget Cuts to Science Agencies: The administration’s budget proposals often targeted massive cuts to major science institutions, including:
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the primary funder of biomedical research.
- The National Science Foundation (NSF), which funds non-medical science and engineering research.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with proposals to drastically reduce its budget and eliminate climate-related programs.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), particularly its climate and earth science research divisions.
- Climate Change Denial and Rollbacks: Donald Trump frequently called climate change a “hoax” and promised to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement (which he did in 2020). The administration also took steps to remove climate change data from government websites and silence government scientists on the issue.
- Political Interference and Censorship: Concerns were raised over the misrepresentation or exclusion of scientific knowledge in policy decisions, as well as the implementation of gag orders on federal scientists regarding the dissemination of their research findings.
- Immigration Policy: Executive orders restricting travel from certain Muslim-majority countries caused anxiety and fear among the large number of foreign-born scientists who contribute to U.S. research and universities.
📉 Impact of Policies on Research
Beyond the rhetoric, the policies enacted or proposed had tangible effects on the U.S. scientific enterprise, particularly in recent years:
- Grant Terminations: Thousands of research grants from the NIH and NSF were terminated or frozen, totaling billions of dollars in unspent funds, which disrupted clinical trials (including those for infectious diseases and cancer) and led to job losses in research institutions.
- Ideological Targeting: The cuts disproportionately targeted research related to climate change, public health and prevention, and initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in science.
- Crippling Infrastructure: Attempts to significantly reduce the rate at which institutions can recoup indirect costs (overhead for labs, equipment, safety, etc.) on federal grants threatened to cripple the operational infrastructure of universities and research hospitals.
The March for Science was a pivotal moment where the traditionally non-political scientific community took to the streets to advocate for the value of evidence-based policy and the need for sustained, non-partisan federal funding for research.
Would you be interested in learning about the specific impact of the funding cuts on a particular area, such as medical research or climate science?
