Although federal judges have temporarily blocked many of President Donald Trump’s plans to overhaul the government through executive action, academic researchers who rely on federal grants say business is still far from usual. Eager to keep working uninterrupted on time-sensitive projects—including medical research on cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease—university scientists are instead caught in a crossfire of conflicting guidance, with some still waiting on funding. And as Trump’s second term takes shape, many are uncertain if their life’s work will continue as planned or get derailed as part of the president’s crusade against alleged “waste, fraud and abuse” of taxpayer money and so-called woke ideology...
In the six weeks since taking office, the Trump administration has put out new orders nearly every day, including now-blocked funding freezes and a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Officials at the National Institutes of Health have largely stopped awarding new grants, grinding a $47 billion operation to a near halt. And as the administration cuts staff and spending at the NIH, NSF and beyond, universities and researchers are bracing for more disruptions...
It may take weeks, months or even years for the litigation to play out, but university scientists are already feeling the effects of Trump’s pushback against the courts...
Advisory councils haven’t met since the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, issued a communications freeze for its agencies on Jan. 22. As a result, meeting notices for the councils, which typically convene three times a year in January, May and September, haven’t been posted to the Federal Register at least 15 days in advance as required by law. It’s not clear when the councils will resume. The delayed advisory councils aren’t just holding up applications for new grants, which the NIH and the NSF—the third-largest federal funding source for university-led scientific research—are also reviewing for compliance with Trump’s nebulous anti-DEI orders...
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