(Credit: Legal Insurrection)
As the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health get the DOGE-treatment, scientists are filled with dread.
Before COVID, Americans generally trusted its scientists.
Post-COVID, Americans’ trust in science has declined significantly. In 2023, only 57% of American adults said science had a “mostly positive” effect on society, down 16 percentage points from pre-pandemic levels. The percentage of Americans with strong trust in scientists fell from 39% in 2020 to 23%.
Now two of the major institutions funding American science are receiving the DOGE- treatment, as the Department of Government Efficiency staff has begun looking at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health. There appears to be an effort to streamline and refocus these groups so they support actual science rather than narrative support.
NSF has already terminated 168 probationary employees, representing approximately 10% of its workforce.
The National Science Foundation fired 170 probationary employees and experts Tuesday as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce, the agency confirmed.
In a written statement, NSF spokesman Mike England pointed to President Donald Trump’s executive order last week that included plans to reduce the size of the federal workforce as part of the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“To ensure compliance with this E.O. the National Science Foundation has released 168 employees from Federal service effective today,” England said Tuesday. “We thank these employees for their service to NSF and their contributions to advance the agency mission.”
And as those probationary employees were hired under the Biden administration, the move is likely to benefit real science.
NSF grants are also being targeted, especially if they contain the hallmarks of Diversity-Equity-Inclusion.
Many grants seem to be in jeopardy. Nature recently reported that roughly 10,000 existing grants were marked for potential cancellation given their inclusion of keywords like “women” and “people of color,” which are targeted in the Trump Administration rollback of DEI initiatives.
During the Biden-Harris administration, the proportion of @NSF funding allocated to DEI efforts increased by over 9210% from 2021 to 2024, rising from 0.29% to 27.21%. @DOGE pic.twitter.com/g3FE5ymDMY
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) December 3, 2024
At the National Institutes of Health, the fun is just getting started. DOGE has proposed drastic cuts to NIH research funding, reducing “indirect costs” to 15% of previous levels.
One complaint is that grant recipients, such as our woke universities, receive this money supposedly to cover the practical costs related to the research (e.g., light and heat for the laboratory facility), but not the research itself—to 15%. However, these indirect costs are often nearly a substantial portion of the grant and can be used to support non-scientific endeavors that might otherwise be unsustainable.
For example. the ever-expanding administrative state associated with universities. “Indirect costs” cover:
- General administration
- Accounting and financial management
- Human resources
- Legal affairs
- Grant administration
How many of these are DEI-activists supporting the progressive antics at their institutions? And how many thwart the hiring of scientists whose research may challenge the current orthodoxy related to climate, gender, and other critical fields?
Amazing job by @NIH team.
Saved > $4B annually in excessive grant administrative costs. https://t.co/ICLlcJxp8V
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 7, 2025
Of course, scientists attending the current meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science are on edge as a result of the new scrutiny they are under from Elon Musk’s team of super-geniuses. (Read more: Legal Insurrection, 2/20/2025) (Archive)