Last fall, NJ.com posted an article called "Is Trump Trying to Kill Us? Authoritarian Expert Says Yes. Here's How." Read it. It begins, "There are five key areas that authoritarians want to control when they attempt to decapitate a democratic state, authoritarian expert and author Timothy Snyder writes: health, law, administration, defense and intelligence."
And so it begins. As part of its mission to destroy the country, the Trump administration has ordered key federal health agencies to pause all external communications, including communications about research, and funding, meetings, travel, and hiring.
While temporary pauses are apparently common when administrations change, the breadth and lack of information about this freeze is unusual. This Science Magazine article describes the devastating effects this is having on research and planning. "The moves have generated extensive confusion and uncertainty at the nation’s largest research agency, which has become a target for Trump’s political allies. 'The impact of the collective executive orders and directives appears devastating,' one senior National Instotutes of Health employee says."
Many universities, hospitals, patients, and medical trials will also be impacted. "Another consequence of the communications pause, according to an NIH staffer involved with clinical trials at NIH's Clinical Center, is that agency staff cannot meet with patient groups or release newsletters or other information to recruit patients into trials. Another unknown is whether NIH researchers will still be allowed to submit papers to peer-reviewed journals."
Use this tool to see how the freeze will affect our state and contact our representatives and senators to highlight the dollars that will be lost, not to mention the scientists and research, if things don't change immediately. Do they care? Does it matter?
Baldwin: (608) 796-0045
DVO: (202) 225-5506
Johnson: (202) 224-5323
New: Scientists at NIH can’t purchase supplies for their studies after Trump administration pauses outside communications from CNN
And, if that's not enough, other scientists are being instructed to turn in "secret DEI" colleagues. "In a new message distributed on Wednesday, government employees were warned they would face 'adverse consequences' if they failed to promptly report any hidden DEI programs. 'We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language,' said the memo, which set a 10-day deadline for information."
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