Pause on Federal Grants - MD25-13

[BrentD]

The attempted imposition of a 15% indirect cost for NIH grants is another example of this. It has been blocked by a judge, and it looks like what they are doing is indeed illegal due to a 2017 law passed by a Republican congress the last time the Trump administration tried these shenanigans. But this is going to take time to figure out.

The stated preference of the administration is to increase money spent on research with this rule change, but that is just a nice sound bite. People who actually understand how the system works (probably including the Heritage Foundation zealots that came up with this mess) have highlighted how the actual effect will be to decrease the number of grants that are given out by the NIH. I don't know if your average person actually understands how competitive NIH grants are. The payline for R01 grants (your standard grant) for institutes that publish this data can vary from the sub-10th percentile to 16th percentile, with the NIBIB being an outlier at 18th percentile. This is significantly lower than it was pre-2008, where I am told that paylines were routinely in the 20s or 30s. Under the pre-2025 system, the vast majority of grants submitted to the NIH were not funded. These are research proposals generated by highly trained scientists at the forefront of their fields. Now consider the actual proposed policy by the Trump administration would decrease the number of grants issued by the NIH, and you can understand that this will just drive paylines down even further and turn what is arguably an already too competitive environment into something significantly worse.

Again, it looks like this will not stand up upon legal review, but it has already had some of the desired effects. Right now is the middle of the academic hiring cycle, and I know of job postings that have been affected by hiring freezes due to the chaos of this administration. I am also on the job market, and I am worried how this will affect my search. My future research group will be developing chemical tools for applications in biological research, and the NIH would be a primary funding stream. Maybe my verbal job offer gets pulled. Maybe I end up at an institution with limited resources, creating significant negative impacts on my long term career. I don't know what is going to happen. It is a mess.

If we zoom out and look at what this all means for the tax payer if this policy is allowed by the courts, it will result in less fundamental and translational biomedical research being performed. Downstream of this will be fewer treatments being developed, though that will take time to work itself through the system as today's discoveries take time to make it to consumers. Which means the Trump administration wouldn't have to suffer the negatives consequences of their actions, but the public eventually will.

It is not just NIH/biomedical research. NSF is being hammered as is every other granting agency. If you voted for him, this complete hammering of the science and engineering being done throughout the country, is on you. This has been a Republican agenda issue since forever. But now it is really hitting home.

 

[Gellar]

I’d personally love to see ya’ll post more examples of where withholding federal grant monies has/will affect conservation projects.

I have at least 3 projects currently in the works that the federal funding freeze is affecting. Docks at public boat landings purchased with Coast Guard grants, Trail construction grants with the Federal Highway Administration, and new exhibit design and marketing paid for with grants from the NPS. None of them are huge grants, but with a pretty small budget these projects are getting done in our area without the help of the Federal dollars.

Who knows, maybe they’ll find we have more funds to put towards managing federal land once all the corruption and waste is taken care of?

i have no doubt they will find money that could be used for conservation. But I have little faith in either side and have no doubt they will find a way to line their own pockets with whatever savings opportunities they uncover.

 

[FI460]

If we zoom out and look at what this all means for the tax payer if this policy is allowed by the courts, it will result in less fundamental and translational biomedical research being performed. Downstream of this will be fewer treatments being developed, though that will take time to work itself through the system as today's discoveries take time to make it to consumers. Which means the Trump administration wouldn't have to suffer the negatives consequences of their actions, but the public eventually will.

NIH, USDA, NSF, EPA... This will translate to fewer grad students, fewer engineers, fewer water quality experts, doctors, etc. All this in an era where we are complaining that we aren't training enough professionals when compared to China and India.

 

[Gulf of America]

Executive Order Reportedly Freezing Seasonal Firefighter Jobs

Seasonal wildland firefighters' orders were allegedly rescinded due to President Trump's federal hiring freeze.

www.firehouse.com

Not conservation directly, but not having wildland firefighters will undoubtedly have adverse impacts on public land we use for hunting and recreation.

 

[BuzzH]

Executive Order Reportedly Freezing Seasonal Firefighter Jobs

Seasonal wildland firefighters' orders were allegedly rescinded due to President Trump's federal hiring freeze.

www.firehouse.com

Not conservation directly, but not having wildland firefighters will undoubtedly have adverse impacts on public land we use for hunting and recreation.

If you're going to burn it all down, may as well go full boat.

 

[Nameless Range]

Executive Order Reportedly Freezing Seasonal Firefighter Jobs

Seasonal wildland firefighters' orders were allegedly rescinded due to President Trump's federal hiring freeze.

www.firehouse.com

Not conservation directly, but not having wildland firefighters will undoubtedly have adverse impacts on public land we use for hunting and recreation.

In conversations, I'm finding there's a lot of folks whose interaction with the federal government is unknown to themselves, or is based on a couple bad encounters, or more often, the internet. I'm not speaking to govt waste and the need to trim fat because I would actually agree with a fair bit of that. That said, there's also this concept that government is functioning right when you don't even know you're interacting with it, and be it emergency response, community projects, or that meadow not filled with knapweed, if these things don't "unpause" real quick, we will see some friction, and, due to the fact that this is totally haphazard and not thought through, the rural and the local will take the brunt of it.

 

[BuzzH]

Who knows, maybe they’ll find we have more funds to put towards managing federal land once all the corruption and waste is taken care of?

I think you know, and so does anyone that pays attention. Conservation is not real high on any administrations priority list, much lower on the current.

I hope you get to call me wrong, and I'd like to be wrong.

 

[Gulf of America]

In conversations, I'm finding there's a lot of folks whose interaction with the federal government is unknown to themselves, or is based on a couple bad encounters, or more often, the internet. I'm not speaking to govt waste and the need to trim fat because I would actually agree with a fair bit of that. That said, there's also this concept that government is functioning right when you don't even know you're interacting with it, and be it emergency response, community projects, or that meadow not filled with knapweed, if these things don't "unpause" real quick, we will see some friction, and, due to the fact that this is totally haphazard and not thought through, the rural and the local will take the brunt of it.

I've said to several friends in the last few days, a lot of people who hate the government are about to find out how much they rely on the government. It's callous, but I'm here for it. I just hope the "it'll be some pain, but it'll be worth it" folks get an equal helping of pain as the folks who don't think it's worth it.

 

[mtmiller]

My buddy had a start date for seasonal work with the BLM on a western pond turtle project and was un-hired 2 weeks back. He's heard rumors of exemptions, but nothing official.

I am sure with the Sgamma nomination everything will work out.

 

[Little Canyon Creek]

NIH, USDA, NSF, EPA... This will translate to fewer grad students, fewer engineers, fewer water quality experts, doctors, etc. All this in an era where we are complaining that we aren't training enough professionals when compared to China and India.

Yeah, it would decrease the number of those original doctors, the PhDs, haha. I am not sure how it is going to impact the number of those wannabe doctors, the MDs who like to scare the daylights out of me by saying they barely passed organic chemistry. I have no idea why they always like to tell me that.

It is not just NIH/biomedical research. NSF is being hammered as is every other granting agency. If you voted for him, this complete hammering of the science and engineering being done throughout the country, is on you. This has been a Republican agenda issue since forever. But now it is really hitting home.

With science and technology being such a foundational part of the modern economy, it is remarkable the degree of self-sabotage they are trying to inflict.

 

[BuzzH]

I've said to several friends in the last few days, a lot of people who hate the government are about to find out how much they rely on the government. It's callous, but I'm here for it. I just hope the "it'll be some pain, but it'll be worth it" folks get an equal helping of pain as the folks who don't think it's worth it.

Every single time I'm whipping down the Interstate/Highways to my next hunt I always think of the same thing:

What I pay in taxes is worth every penny I pay so my travel to____________(fill in the blank) doesn't take 4 days, 4 spare tires, 2 sets of shocks and a kidney transplant to get there.

 

[Gulf of America]

I've said to several friends in the last few days, a lot of people who hate the government are about to find out how much they rely on the government. It's callous, but I'm here for it. I just hope the "it'll be some pain, but it'll be worth it" folks get an equal helping of pain as the folks who don't think it's worth it.

The real bummer is that the aluminum tariffs are going to increase the price of beer, so it hurts a bit more to sit back with a cold one and watch the carnage.

 

[BuzzH]

The real bummer is that the aluminum tariffs are going to increase the price of beer, so it hurts a bit more to sit back with a cold one and watch the carnage.

Bottles??? I think we're going to be needing 40's of colt 45.

 

[WyoCoalMiner]

I've said to several friends in the last few days, a lot of people who hate the government are about to find out how much they rely on the government. It's callous, but I'm here for it. I just hope the "it'll be some pain, but it'll be worth it" folks get an equal helping of pain as the folks who don't think it's worth it.

We all share in the good times and in the bad. Those just dont always occur at the same time for all of us. I am confident those among us that are hoping for pain for our fellow Americans will be pleased with the outcome. Equally as confident the good time will also be shared by all.

 

[TheJason]

NIH, USDA, NSF, EPA... This will translate to fewer grad students, fewer engineers, fewer water quality experts, doctors, etc. All this in an era where we are complaining that we aren't training enough professionals when compared to China and India.

This. My graduate work was funded through grants from NIH and USDA.

 

[BuzzH]

We all share in the good times and in the bad. Those just dont always occur at the same time for all of us. I am confident those among us that are hoping for pain for our fellow Americans will be pleased with the outcome. Equally as confident the good time will also be shared by all.

Looks like some pain being felt.

FAFO

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chevron-announces-15-20-layoff-global-workforce-source-says-2025-02-12/

I tend to disagree that the sharing of good times and bad times are in equal proportion for anybody.

 

[TheJason]

With science and technology being such a foundational part of the modern economy, it is remarkable the degree of self-sabotage they are trying to inflict.

But we’ll bring back steel manufacturing.

 

[sccritterkiller]

This is exactly what I voted for!

Let DOGE cook!

We can take a pause and get a handle on spending or we can continue down the same path till it all falls apart and there is no coming back.

Some folks around here need to go outside for while..He hasn't been in office 30 days...Let's let this play out a little before we start screaming the sky is falling.

 

[noharleyyet]

I hope you get to call me wrong, and I'd like to be wrong.

 

[Potsie]

But we’ll bring back steel manufacturing.

Prove it.