Katherine Wu, staff writer for The Atlantic, explains how the Trump administration's cuts to research grants has already — and will continue to — impact scientific progress in the United States. =>"The Breaking of American Science" (The Atlantic, Feb. 14, 2025)

Academics and researchers collaborating with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have reported that directives from the Trump administration have significantly hampered their work—leading to project delays and creating uncertainty around research funding and job security amidst the turmoil within the agency.

The Trump administration's cuts to health research will shorten life expectancy and threaten the lives of all Americans, according to university union leaders and scientists. Lab leaders and researchers said they're already seeing PhD students not getting admitted, research being delayed or cancelled, and longtime colleagues getting fired as President Donald Trump executes his promised cuts to government spending.

When President Donald Trump was campaigning for president, he routinely promised he would “drain the swamp,” abolish the “Deep State,” and ask billionaire Elon Musk to do a “performance audit” of federal agencies in Washington.

Members of the United Campus Workers union and their supporters gathered in downtown Atlanta on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s cuts to federal funding affecting colleges and universities. The rally was part of a national day of action to support research funding, life-saving medical studies and education.

Academics and scientists who work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said the Trump administration’s orders have severely disrupted work – delaying projects and casting the future of research funding and jobs into doubt as chaos in the agency reigns.

As a small group of graduate students listened in the audience, MD/PhD student Jamie Moffa explained how to convey the importance of their research to local and state legislators. “Be brief, talk about your research in broad strokes, don’t use jargon, and talk about the human impact of your research,” Moffa said. 

Around 200 scientists, students and labor organizers rallied on the New Haven Green on Wednesday evening to call on the federal government to take its “hands off” their research, protesting funding cuts that they believe threaten the future of science and education.