QOTD -- Ruining America's Leadership In Scientific Research

 

"... Last month the administration released a sneak preview of another frontal assault on American research excellence, all under the innocuous-sounding plan to 'revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance.'

"Even a quick scan of the proposed regulation rewrite, however, reveals where this administration is coming from. It claims that, 'Federal awards were often used during [the Biden] years to promote a "woke" policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public' and 'far-left activists hijacked the critical work done by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was established to respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa. Due to wasteful spending, PEPFAR became a left-wing foreign aid entitlement that attempted to promote abortion and gender ideology.' The latter claim relies on a Heritage Foundation argument that the hard-working staff here at Drezner’s World called bullshit on about three years ago.  [snip]

"One of the genuine difficulties with observing the second Trump term is that the assault on state capacity and impartiality has been so multipronged that it is difficult to keep track of everything going on. But these proposed rule changes are monumental and catastrophic. Unfortunately, 'monumental and catastrophic' are the perfect adjectives to describe what Trump will bequeath his successor, as well as the rest of us." -- Daniel W. Drezner, Distinguished Professor at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in this Substsack "Drezner's World."  Drezner calls this under-the-radar plan an "existential threat to scientific research," one of many existential threats we face with the Malignant Fascist.  The plan is getting hammered in public comments, not that that's ever deterred the Malignant Fascist and his goon squad of America-destroyers.  Congress -- especially a Democratic Congress if we elect one in November, can also stop the changes.  We've got to make sure that happens.