Trump's Power Play: How a New Executive Order Could Politicize Science Funding
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The Quiet Bombshell
An order with far-reaching consequences
On a sleepy August morning, the White House dropped an executive order that could reshape how billions in federal research dollars are handed out. The move, buried in the bureaucratic fine print, shifts control of grantmaking from career scientists to political appointees.
It’s the kind of dry-sounding policy change that makes eyes glaze over—until you realize it could determine which studies on climate change, public health, or even AI get funded for decades. The timing, just months before the election, has researchers and universities bracing for legal battles.
Who Stands to Gain—and Lose
The players behind the push
The order bears the fingerprints of Trump’s longtime adviser Stephen Miller, who’s long argued that federal agencies are ‘weaponized’ by liberal academics. But the real muscle comes from a coalition of conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, which drafted a 2025 policy blueprint calling for ‘accountability’ in grant decisions.
On the other side? Every major scientific organization from the NIH to the National Science Board. ‘This isn’t about efficiency—it’s about installing ideological gatekeepers,’ says Dr. Francis Collins, former NIH director. He points to the $45 billion in annual grants now in play, much of it for high-stakes medical research.
The Legal Time Bomb
Why lawsuits are inevitable
Three states—California, New York, and Massachusetts—are already drafting challenges, arguing the order violates the Administrative Procedure Act’s protections against ‘arbitrary and capricious’ rule changes. But the administration seems ready for the fight.
A leaked memo from the Office of Management and Budget suggests they’ll argue the change merely ‘streamlines’ a bloated system. Never mind that the same memo cites a 300% increase in grants to ‘woke’ climate research since 2020—a claim fact-checkers say plays fast and loose with the numbers.
The Ghost of Reagan Past
A recurring battle in science policy
This isn’t the first time a GOP administration has tried to rein in peer review. In 1981, Reagan appointees purged EPA science panels, replacing academics with industry reps. The backlash forced a partial retreat—but not before delaying key toxicology studies by years.
‘The difference now is the scale,’ says historian Daniel Kevles. Back then, maybe a few dozen grants were affected. Today, with AI and pandemic preparedness research in the crosshairs, the stakes are exponentially higher.
What Comes Next
The dominoes to watch
First up: whether Congress uses the Congressional Review Act to overturn the order. With a divided House, that’s a long shot. More likely, the battle shifts to the courts and the court of public opinion.
Universities are quietly advising researchers to fast-track grant applications before the rules take effect in January. Meanwhile, Big Tech is sweating—over half of AI ethics funding flows through these channels. One Google researcher, speaking anonymously, put it bluntly: ‘If the wrong people control the purse strings, entire fields of study could just… disappear.’
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