science policy of the second Donald Trump administration

The science policy of the second Donald Trump administration is seeing broad funding freezes and cuts (or proposed cuts). Broad research areas targeted so far have included climate change, vaccine hesitancy, HIV/AIDS, and COVID-19.{{Cite web |last=Kozlov |first=Max |last2=Ryan |first2=Chris |title=How Trump is Slashing Health Research, in 4 Charts |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hiv-trans-health-and-covid-research-targeted-by-trump-cuts-to-nih/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Scientific American |language=en}} Also, research funding related to LGBTQ and other gender issues, diversity, equity, and inclusion, race and ethnicity, and other topics deemed "woke".{{Cite web |title=Trump orders cause chaos at science agencies |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-orders-cause-chaos-science-agencies |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Chelsea |title=Government Agencies, Universities, Nonprofits Pause Critical Work Over Trump Administration Executive Orders |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-takes-a-giant-wrecking-ball-to-u-s-research/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}

Some of the funding freezes have been used to apply pressure to universities on non-science related matters.{{Cite web |last=Timmer |first=John |date=2025-04-09 |title=Trump administration’s attack on university research accelerates |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/trump-administrations-attack-on-university-research-accelerates/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Ars Technica |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Cochran |first=Lexi Lonas |date=15 April 2025 |title=Trump’s fight with higher education reaches a tipping point with Harvard defiance |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5250071-trump-harvard-funding-fight-universities-antisemitism-dei/ |work=The Hill}}

Early actions

Early Trump executive orders led to government organizations removing or modifying over 8,000 web pages and approximately 3,000 datasets, many of them science-related.{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Ethan |date=February 2, 2025 |title=Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/upshot/trump-government-websites-missing-pages.html |website=The New York Times}}

In addition, there were freezes in scientific funding and purges of data related to LGBTQ issues, gender, climate change, and racial diversity.{{cite web | last=Calma | first=Justine | title=Donald Trump's data purge has begun | website=The Verge | date=2025-01-31 | url=https://www.theverge.com/news/604484/donald-trumps-data-purge-has-begun | access-date=2025-02-01}}{{cite web | last=Stone | first=Will | title=Trump administration purges websites across federal health agencies | website=NPR | date=2025-01-31 | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/31/nx-s1-5282274/trump-administration-purges-health-websites | access-date=2025-02-01}} There were also mass firings across federal scientific agencies.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) ceased paying out its grants to researchers leaving many without a salary.{{cite web | last=Boodman | first=Eric | title=National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills | website=STAT | date=2025-01-30 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/trump-funding-freeze-national-science-foundation-suspends-salary-payments/ | access-date=2025-02-01}} Grant review panels—in which scientists decide which research proposals will receive funding—were paused to review whether projects supported potentially banned activities such as increasing diversity among scientists, international collaborations, or research into environmentally-friendly technology.{{cite web | last=Mervis | first=Jeffrey | title=EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump's orders | website=www.science.org | url=https://www.science.org/content/article/exclusive-nsf-starts-vetting-all-grants-comply-trump-s-orders | access-date=2025-02-19}} After a court order on February 2, the NSF funds were unfrozen, though the review panels were still paused.{{cite web | last=Lambert | first=Jonathan | title=National Science Foundation says it will unfreeze grant money after court order | website=NPR | date=2025-02-03 | url=https://www.npr.org/2025/02/03/nx-s1-5285382/national-science-foundation-says-it-will-unfreeze-grant-money-after-court-order | access-date=2025-02-19}} On February 4, 2025, the NSF announced that it would lay off 25% to 50% of its workforce.{{cite web | last=Hiar | first=Corbin | title=Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs | website=POLITICO | date=2025-02-04 | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/04/science-funding-agency-layoffs-threat-00202426 | access-date=2025-02-05}} Ten percent of NSF staff (168 employees) were fired on February 18.{{cite magazine | last=Zetter | first=Kim | title=National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers as Federal Purge Continues | magazine=WIRED | date=2025-02-18 | url=https://www.wired.com/story/national-science-foundation-february-2025-firings/ | access-date=2025-02-19}}{{cite web | last=Lambert | first=Jonathan | title=National Science Foundation fires roughly 10% of its workforce | website=NPR | date=2025-02-18 | url=https://www.npr.org/2025/02/18/nx-s1-5301049/national-science-foundation-fires-roughly-10-of-its-workforce | access-date=2025-02-19}} The firings were aimed at probationary employees (those who had held their positions for less than a year), but some of the laid off employees included those with over a year of experience who were unknowingly reclassified in January by the Office of Personnel Management and others who were permanent staff. Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned as NSF director on April 24, 2025.{{cite web |date=April 24, 2025 |title=Statement by Director Sethuraman Panchanathan on his departure |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/statement-director-sethuraman-panchanathan-his-departure |access-date=24 April 2025 |website=nsf.gov |publisher=National Science Foundation}}

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The Trump administration ordered a suspension of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding on January 27, which froze much of its $47 billion budget.{{cite journal | last=Kozlov | first=Max | title=Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order | journal=Nature | publisher=Nature Publishing Group | date=2025-02-20 | volume=638 | issue=8052 | pages=870–871 | doi=10.1038/d41586-025-00540-2 | pmid=39979573 | bibcode=2025Natur.638..870K | url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00540-2 | access-date=2025-02-21| url-access=subscription }} The order was blocked by courts after legal challenges but continued when the government exploited a loophole in which they refused to publish the agency's meeting plans in the Federal Register. The NIH announced on February 7 that it would cap support for indirect costs in grants to institutions at 15% of a grant's value.{{cite news | last1=Diamond | first1=Dan | last2=Johnson | first2=Carolyn Y. | last3=Sun | first3=Lena H. | title=NIH cuts billions of dollars in biomedical funding, effective immediately | newspaper=Washington Post | date=2025-02-08 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/02/08/nih-cuts-billions-dollars-biomedical-funding-effective-immediately/ | access-date=2025-02-09}} Indirect costs cover expenses that are not directly related to research but are necessary to support it, such as rent for facilities, utilities like heat and electricity, or janitorial and administrative staff.{{cite web | last1=Wosen | first1=Jonathan | last2=Molteni | first2=Megan | last3=Mast | first3=Jason | last4=McFarling | first4=Usha Lee | title=NIH plans to slash support for indirect research costs, sending shockwaves through science | website=STAT | date=2025-02-08 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/07/nih-slashes-indirect-costs-on-all-grants-to-15-percent-trump/ | access-date=2025-02-09}}{{cite web | last1=Wosen | first1=Jonathan | last2=Chen | first2=Angus | title=What are indirect research costs? A quick explainer in light of NIH's sweeping policy change | website=STAT | date=2025-02-08 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/08/nih-indirect-costs-explainer-research-budget-cuts-different-accounting/ | access-date=2025-02-09}} Indirect costs typically range from 30% to 70%, and the cuts represent "tens to hundreds of millions of dollars" in lost funding for research institutes that could lead to layoffs, hiring freezes, and ending research projects. The cuts had previously been outlined in Project 2025 to combat what it characterized as subsidies for "leftist agendas" and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. In response, 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit and the cuts were paused on February 10.{{cite web | last1=Bush | first1=Evan | last2=Bendix | first2=Aria | last3=Chow | first3=Denise | title=Science under siege: Trump cuts threaten to undermine decades of research | website=NBC News | date=2025-02-18 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/trumps-nih-budget-cuts-threaten-research-stirring-panic-rcna191744 | access-date=2025-02-19}} The NIH fired 1,000 to 1,200 workers on February 15.{{cite web | last=Stone | first=Will | title=Health agencies lose staff members in key areas as Trump firings set in | website=NPR | date=2025-02-17 | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/17/nx-s1-5300052/federal-employees-layoffs-cdc-nih-fda | access-date=2025-02-19}} The cuts have led to universities pausing or reducing admissions for graduate biomedical research and medical school programs and hiring of postdoctoral researchers, and the NIH cancelling undergraduate internships and postbaccalaureate programs.{{cite web | last=McFarling | first=Usha Lee | title=Cancellation of NIH summer internships disrupts 'vital' training program for U.S. scientists | website=STAT | date=2025-03-05 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/05/trump-nih-freeze-cancels-summer-internships-vital-pipeline-develops-young-scientists/ | access-date=2025-03-05}}{{cite web | last1=Molteni | first1=Megan | last2=McFarling | first2=Usha Lee | last3=Chen | first3=Angus | title=Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research | website=STAT | date=2025-02-19 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/19/trump-funding-freeze-grad-student-postdoc-acceptances-paused-nih-research/ | access-date=2025-03-05}} Reports in mid-March stated that the NIH was expected to fire 3,400 to 5,000 people from its 20,000 person workforce.{{cite web | last1=Wosen | first1=Jonathan | last2=Molteni | first2=Megan | last3=Mast | first3=Jason | last4=Chen | first4=Angus | last5=Facher | first5=Lev | last6=Oza | first6=Anil | title=At NIH, 'everyone is on edge' as they brace for deep cuts and more centralized control | website=STAT | date=2025-03-15 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/14/nih-staff-cuts-reorganization-morale/ | access-date=2025-03-17}}

The Center for Disease Control's (CDC) social vulnerability index and environmental justice index, which measured disparities in health risks, were removed from the organization's website, and on January 31, the data portal was taken completely offline in response to Executive Order 14168, which mandated that federal agencies use "sex" instead of "gender" and that they only recognize male and female sexes. AtlasPlus, an interactive CDC tool for tracking diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis, was taken down.{{cite web | last=Wu | first=Katherine J. | title=CDC Data Are Disappearing | website=The Atlantic | date=January 31, 2025 | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/01/cdc-dei-scientific-data/681531/ | access-date=February 1, 2025}} Census web pages about sexual identity and orientation were taken offline, and CDC pages about HIV and LGBTQ+ youth also disappeared.{{cite web | last = Hull | first = Dana | title=CDC Information, Datasets Disappear From US Agency's Websites | website=Bloomberg | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-01/cdc-information-datasets-disappear-from-us-agency-s-websites | access-date=2025-02-01}} According to The Atlantic, the Trump administration targeted and replaced keywords in CDC content, including "pregnant people, transgender, binary, non-binary, gender, assigned at birth, binary [sic], non-binary [sic], cisgender, queer, gender identity, gender minority, anything with pronouns". About 750 CDC employees were fired over the weekend of February 15 with leadership stating that 10% (1,300) would be notified of their termination. The Food and Drug Administration purged online material on clinical trial diversity that encouraged drug developers to test the effects of medical treatments on different populations.{{cite web | last1=Herper | first1=Matthew | last2=Lawrence | first2=Lizzy | title=FDA purges material on clinical trial diversity from its site, showing stakes of Trump DEI ban | website=STAT | date=2025-01-23 | url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/01/23/fda-purges-pages-clinical-trial-diversity-after-trump-dei-ban/ | access-date=2025-02-01}} After a court order, many web pages were restored. The administration added a disclaimer to the restored websites that notes the administrations opposition to what it terms "gender ideology", claiming it is "inaccurate".{{cite web | last1=Maiberg | first1=Emanuel | last2=Cox | first2=Joseph | last3=Maiberg | first3=Emanuel | last4=Roscoe | first4=Jules | last5=Koebler | first5=Jason | title=Trump Admin Adds Note Rejecting 'Gender Ideology' on Sites Court Ordered Them to Restore | website=404 Media | date=February 14, 2025 | url=https://www.404media.co/trump-admin-adds-note-rejecting-gender-ideology-on-sites-court-ordered-them-to-restore/ | access-date=February 26, 2025}}

Layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began on February 27, 2025 when 880 employees (approximately 5% of the organization) were fired.{{cite web | last1=Noor | first1=Dharna | last2=Canon | first2=Gabrielle | title='Cruel and thoughtless': Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency NOAA | website=The Guardian | date=February 27, 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/27/trump-noaa-cuts-climate | access-date=February 28, 2025}} The administration stated that no critical employees such as National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists were cut, though a source within the NWS reported to CBS News that meteorologists were included in the layoffs.{{cite web | last1=Freiman | first1=Jordan | last2=Wholf | first2=Tracy J. | title=Hundreds of NOAA employees laid off in latest cuts to federal workforce | website=CBS News | date=February 27, 2025 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/noaa-layoffs-trump-musk-doge/ | access-date=February 28, 2025}}

In some cases, the government attempted to rehire scientists. Members of the technical staff at the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear arsenal, were fired on February 13; attempts to contact them for rehiring failed because their emails had been disconnected.{{cite web | last=Jeffrey | first=Mervis | title=Mass firings decimate U.S. science agencies | website=www.science.org | url=https://www.science.org/content/article/mass-firings-decimate-u-s-science-agencies | date=2025-02-18 | access-date=2025-02-19}} The Department of Agriculture fired several scientists working on the ongoing avian flu outbreak over the same weekend and attempted to rehire them.{{cite web | last=Halpert | first=Madeline | title=Trump administration trying to rehire USDA bird flu officials it fired | website=BBC | date=February 19, 2025| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjev24184vjo | access-date=2025-02-19}} Members of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service were told their positions were eliminated, but the decision was reversed after an outcry.

There were dismissals of thousands of researchers and other employees of the Departments of Agriculture,{{Cite magazine |last=Reynolds |first=Matt |title=USDA Layoffs Derail Projects Benefiting American Farmers |url=https://www.wired.com/story/usda-layoffs-throw-climate-and-crop-projects-into-chaos/ |access-date=2025-03-26 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}} Veterans Affairs,{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Ellen |date=2025-02-14 |title=VA cutting 1,000 employees |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5146387-veteran-affairs-cuts-1000-workers/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250304002201/https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5146387-veteran-affairs-cuts-1000-workers/ |archive-date=2025-03-04 |access-date=2025-03-26 |work=The Hill |language=en-US}} Health and Human Services (including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)),{{Cite news |last=Stone |first=Will |date=2025-02-14 |title=Staff at CDC and NIH are reeling as Trump administration cuts workforce |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5297913/cdc-layoffs-hhs-trump-doge |access-date=2025-03-26 |work=NPR |language=en}} and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).{{cite news |last1=Dance |first1=Scott |last2=Patel |first2=Kasha |title=Trump fired hundreds at NOAA, Weather Service. Here's what that means for forecasts. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/03/01/trump-firings-noaa-nws-weather-forecast-impacts/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=1 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250301223204/https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/03/01/trump-firings-noaa-nws-weather-forecast-impacts/ |archive-date=1 March 2025 |date=1 March 2025 |url-status=live}}

There were controversial appointments, such as those of anti-vaccine advocate and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services;{{Cite web |last=Pellish |first=Kaitlan Collins, Kristen Holmes, Aaron |date=2024-11-14 |title=Trump picks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his Department of Health and Human Services secretary |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/robert-f-kennedy-donald-trump-hhs/index.html |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=CNN |language=en}} climate change denialist Lee Zeldin as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;{{Cite magazine |last=McKibben |first=Bill |date=2025-02-27 |title=Trump's E.P.A. Seeks to Deny Science That Americans Discovered |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/trumps-epa-seeks-to-deny-science-that-americans-discovered |access-date=2025-03-25 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}} and WWE co-founder Linda McMahon as secretary of education.{{Cite news |last1=Saul |first1=Stephanie |last2=Montague |first2=Zach |last3=Otterman |first3=Sharon |date=2024-11-28 |title=Her Wrestling Empire Was Said to Harm Children. Trump Chose Her for Education. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/us/linda-mcmahon-education-wrestling-wwe.html |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

There were threats to defund major universities,{{Cite web |last=Prokop |first=Andrew |date=2025-03-25 |title=A longtime target of the right is finally buckling under Trump pressure |url=https://www.vox.com/politics/405645/trump-defunding-universities-columbia-upenn-research |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Vox |language=en-US}} and actions such as freezing dozens of Department of Energy grants to Princeton University.{{cite news |last=Singh |first=Kanishka |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Princeton's US grants frozen, follows Trump actions against other schools |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/princeton-says-us-grants-frozen-follows-trump-administration-moves-against-other-2025-04-01/ |work=Reuters |location=Washington, D.C. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250402002113/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/princeton-says-us-grants-frozen-follows-trump-administration-moves-against-other-2025-04-01/ |archive-date=April 2, 2025 |access-date=April 2, 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Blinder |first1=Alan |last2=Hartocollis |first2=Anemona |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Trump Pauses Dozens of Federal Grants to Princeton |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/trump-federal-grants-princeton.html |work=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250402011658/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/trump-federal-grants-princeton.html |archive-date=April 2, 2025 |access-date=April 2, 2025}}

There were also mass deletions of open-access datasets, papers, and study protocols from across the federal government.{{Cite news |last=Singer |first=Ethan |date=2025-02-02 |title=Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/upshot/trump-government-websites-missing-pages.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Budget plans

In April 2025, budget planning documents within the Trump administration indicated the intention to reduce funding for a variety of science agencies in Fiscal Year 2026, which begins on October 1, 2025:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: reduce funding from $9.2 billion to $5.2 billion, a 44% cut.{{Cite news |last=Sun |first=Lena H. |last2=Johnson |first2=Carolyn Y. |last3=Roubein |first3=Rachel |last4=Achenbach |first4=Joel |last5=Weber |first5=Lauren |date=2025-04-16 |title=Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump’s proposed health cuts |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/04/16/hhs-budget-cut-trump/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}
National Aeronautics and Space Administration science directorate: reduce funding from $7.5 billion to $3.9 billion, a 52% cut.{{Cite web |last=Berger |first=Eric |date=2025-04-11 |title=Trump White House budget proposal eviscerates science funding at NASA |url=https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Ars Technica |language=en}}
National Institutes of Health: reduce funding from $47 billion to $27 billion, a 40% cut. Eliminate National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the National Institute of Nursing Research.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: reduce funding from $6.1 billion to $4.5 billion, a 26% cut. Eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-11 |title=White House outlines plan to gut NOAA, smother climate research |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/white-house-plan-guts-noaa-climate-research-00286408 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}
National Science Foundation: reduce funding from $9 billion to $4, a 55% cut.{{Cite news |last=Mervis |first=Jeffrey |date=2025-04-24 |title=Exclusive: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-director-resign-amid-grant-terminations-job-cuts-and-controversy |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=Science}}

These budget plans were reported in the press at the "passback" stage, at which the Office of Management and Budget sends its preferred revisions to agency budget requests.{{Cite web |title=Introduction to the Federal Budget Process |url=https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46240 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=www.congress.gov}} These cuts were formalized in the administration's FY 2026 budget, released on May 2.{{Cite news |date=2025-05-02 |title=Read Trump’s 2026 Discretionary Budget Request |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/02/us/budget-request-2026-document.html |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Reactions and consequences

Largely made by executive order, the cuts are also drawing many lawsuits,{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Nicola |date=2025-04-11 |title=NIH cuts triggered a host of lawsuits: Nature’s guide to what’s next |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01192-y |journal=Nature |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-01192-y |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=Christa |date=2025-04-15 |title=Lawsuit: DOE cuts would ‘devastate’ university research |url=https://www.eenews.net/articles/lawsuit-doe-cuts-would-devastate-university-research/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=E&E News by POLITICO |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2025-04-11 |title=5 Ongoing Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration Regarding Health Care |url=https://www.ajmc.com/view/5-ongoing-lawsuits-against-the-trump-administration-regarding-health-care |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=AJMC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Brown, MIT, other institutions sue US Department of Energy over research funding cuts - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/15/metro/brown-mit-sue-us-department-of-energy-over-funding-cuts/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}} and marches & rallies against them.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-07 |title=Out of the lab and into the streets, researchers and doctors rally for science against Trump cuts |url=https://apnews.com/article/science-doctors-cuts-budget-trump-health-climate-cead2742a686b3dbc2fe4b1294939454 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=AP News |language=en}}

By February 2025, the scale of funding in question began raising concerns of "brain drain",{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Chelsea |title=Government Agencies, Universities, Nonprofits Pause Critical Work Over Trump Administration Executive Orders |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-takes-a-giant-wrecking-ball-to-u-s-research/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Scientific American |language=en}} and 75% of scientists responding to a March survey by Nature were considering leaving the country.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-30 |title=Three-quarters of US scientists are considering leaving thanks to DOGE cuts: poll |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/doge-cuts-science-america-nasa-b2722946.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=The Independent |language=en}} On March 31, An open letter for the American people was published, warning the danger of attacks on science from the Trump administration, including threats to universities, federal grant cancelations and ideological funding reviews, mass federal government layoffs, resignations and censorship.{{Cite news |last=Glenza |first=Jessica |date=2025-03-31 |title=More than 1,900 scientists write letter in ‘SOS’ over Trump’s attacks on science |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/31/scientists-letter-trump-administration |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} It was signed by over 1,900 scientists of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The letter stated "We see real danger in this moment, [...] We hold diverse political beliefs, but we are united as researchers in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry. We are sending this SOS to sound a clear warning: the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated. [...] If our country’s research enterprise is dismantled, we will lose our scientific edge. [...] The damage to our nation’s scientific enterprise could take decades to reverse."{{Cite web |title=Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens |url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/13gmMJOMsoNKC4U-A8rhJrzu_xhgS51PEfNMPG9Q_cmE/edit?usp=sharing |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Google Docs |language=en}}

By April, US scientists are reportedly looking for career opportunities abroad in greater numbers due to the administration's slashing of science funding and workforce numbers, with a 32% increase in applications for jobs abroad and a 35% increase in US-based users browsing jobs abroad,{{Cite web |last=scientificinquirer |date=2025-04-22 |title=DAILY DOSE: The Brain Drain Begins – U.S. Researchers Seek Opportunities Abroad Amid Funding Cuts. - Scientific Inquirer |url=https://scientificinquirer.com/2025/04/22/daily-dose-the-brain-drain-begins-u-s-researchers-seek-opportunities-abroad-amid-funding-cuts/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=scientificinquirer.com |language=en-US}} with economists considering which other countries might benefit most.{{Cite news |title=Which countries would benefit most from an American brain drain? |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/04/11/which-countries-would-benefit-most-from-an-american-brain-drain |access-date=2025-04-16 |work=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}

science policy of the second Donald Trump administration

Early actions

Budget plans

Reactions and consequences

See also

References

Further reading