It’s a dizzying and sickening time for everyone in science. Rehashing the specifics is macabre: gutting NIH funding, forcing research universities to make do with drastically less, stopping funding for polio, measles and HIV/AIDS medications in Africa, and eliminating climate change research and investments.

The first question people with a soul are asking  is “how is this even legal?” It isn’t. These programs were designed and funded by Congress, which has the sole power of the purse. The role of the executive branch is to ensure the faithful execution of these programs (execution as in “accomplishment,” not “death”).

The second question is “what’s taking so long to stop this damage from occurring?” Court challenges take their time to wind through the system. Courts will soon rule the obvious—that presidents don’t have the unilateral authority to destroy what Congress has created. The only real questions are whether there will be anything left of these programs by the time courts act, and whether the administration will abide by court orders to restore funding (and if they don’t, how these orders will be enforced, because the Department of Justice won’t send in the US Marshals, which leaves us with what—a military coup?).

So much of what we’ve written about over the years pales in comparison to the carnage happening today. We have focused on helping science communicate more clearly, and the public supports and values science. But in one short month, a science-denying political party has imperiled a generation of cancer research, put millions of children on a pathway to great harm or death, and set back climate action 10 years at a time when our planet is poised to pass climate change tipping points.

Many of the scientists we work with around the world are stunned beyond words, simply numb from the depression that one megalomaniac could swiftly cause such massive destruction, and do so with little protest from the Americans who voted for him. And of course, this is all in addition to the shock we all feel from the targeting of immigrant communities and greenlighting of Jim Crow era discrimination, from how we are abandoning our allies (including today, Ukraine), and telling 1 in 12 Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ that they are invisible. What all this says about America is almost as depressing as the damage being caused—the voting public won’t just wake up three months from now and try to set things straight (even if they could).

We haven’t spoken out yet, but we will try to be more vocal going forward. What we have been doing is working hard to build global communities of action that don’t rely solely on American political will, particularly with regard to climate action. The world is losing America in this effort for the time being. We can wring our hands in despair, or roll up our sleeves and get to work figuring out how we can keep working together as a global community to save our planet. With any luck, the Trump nightmare will be over in four more years, maybe even two if America’s Trump fever breaks before the 2026 midterm elections. In the meantime, we need to do our best to keep making progress. The Trump Administration may not have a soul, but the good people who work in science have the opposite trait in common: They are all inspired to help improve the future of humankind. Science won’t give up, nor will we. Keep the faith (in science, that is), keep fighting for what’s good and right, and we’ll figure out a way forward together.

Peace,

Glenn Hampson
Executive Director, SCI