INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
An attack on scientific infrastructureUS science couldn't flourish without an educational system that funnels talented individuals into
So, naturally, funding for those is being targeted as well
This is partially a function of the administration's intention to eliminate the Department of Education, but there also seems to be a
specific focus on programs that target low-income individuals.For example, the GEAR UP program describes itself as "designed to increase the
number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education." The OMB document describes it as "a relic
of the past when financial incentives were needed to motivate Institutions of Higher Education to engage with low-income students and
increase access." It goes on to claim that this is "not the obstacle it was for students of limited means."Similarly, the SEOG program
funding is "awarded to an undergraduate student who demonstrates exceptional financial need." In the OMB's view, colleges and universities
"have used [it] to fund radical leftist ideology instead of investing in students and their success." Another cut is claimed to eliminate
"Equity Assistance Centers that have indoctrinated children." And "The Budget proposes to end Federal taxpayer dollars being weaponized to
indoctrinate new teachers."In addition, the federal work-study program, which subsidizes on-campus jobs for needy students, is also getting
Again, the document says that the states can pay for it.(The education portion also specifically cuts the funding of Howard University,
which is both distinct as a federally supported Black university and also notable as being where Kamala Harris got her first degree.)The end
of US leadershipThis budget is a recipe for ending the US's leadership in science
It would do generational damage by forcing labs to shut down, with a corresponding loss of highly trained individuals and one-of-a-kind
At the same time, it will throttle the educational pipeline that could eventually replace those losses
Given that the US is one of the major sources of research funding in the world, if approved, the budget will have global consequences.To the
people within the OMB who prepared the document, these are not losses
The document makes it very clear that they view many instances of scientific thought and evidence-based policy as little more than forms of
ideological indoctrination, presumably because the evidence sometimes contradicts what they'd prefer to believe.
