Over 1,900 researchers describe ‘assault’ on science by White House: ‘We see real danger’
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(WASHINGTON) — Nearly 2,000 scientists, engineers and researchers penned an open letter this week to President Donald Trump’s administration, calling for a stop to its “assault” on science.
The letter was signed by elected members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a congressional chartered organization that provides independent analysis and helps inform public policy decisions.
The group made clear the signatories are expressing their own views and not those of the National Academies or their home institutions.
“We are speaking out as individuals. We see real danger in this moment,” the letter said, in part. “We hold diverse political beliefs, but we are united as researchers in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry. We are sending this SOS to sound a clear warning: the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated.”
“We call on the administration to cease its wholesale assault on U.S. science, and we urge the public to join this call,” the letter continued.
The group called out the Trump administration for actions including the ending funding for research, firing scientists and removing public access to data.
Recently, several active research grants related to studies involving LGBTQ+ issues, as well as gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion, were canceled at the National Institutes of Health. According to termination letters sent to researchers at various universities that were reviewed by ABC News, the projects were canceled because they did not serve the “priorities” of the current administration.
Additionally, earlier this year staff were laid off across the Department of Health and Human Services as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency effort to shrink the size of the federal government.
Earlier this month, HHS also appeared to have taken down a webpage from the Office of the Surgeon General that included an advisory on gun violence. In a statement to ABC News, the HHS said that the department “and the Office of the Surgeon General are complying with President Trump’s Executive Order on Protecting Second Amendment Rights.”
The White House did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the letter.
“If our country’s research enterprise is dismantled, we will lose our scientific edge,” the letter goes on. “Other countries will lead the development of novel disease treatments, clean energy sources, and the new technologies of the future. Their populations will be healthier, and their economies will surpass us in business, defense, intelligence gathering, and monitoring our planet’s health. The damage to our nation’s scientific enterprise could take decades to reverse.”
The letter comes as layoffs begin at HHS, including at the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration.
Up to 10,000 people are expected to lose their jobs in this round of layoffs, an amount that could significantly alter the department’s roles and abilities. That’s in addition to the nearly 10,000 who have already left the agency in the last few months through buyout offers or early retirements.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Cheyenne Haslett and Etic Strauss contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump, six weeks into a historic comeback to the White House, on Tuesday heads to Capitol Hill to address Congress and the nation as a reinvented president relentlessly testing the limits of executive power.
Trump will step up to the dais at 9 p.m. ET to lay out his goals for the next four years and tout the actions he’s taken so far, many of them challenging constitutional restraints on his authority versus Congress and the courts.
The president teased on Monday it would be a “big night” and House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News over the weekend to expect “fireworks.”
The theme of his address will be the “Renewal of the American Dream,” a White House official told ABC News.
Trump will focus, the official said, on his record thus far, the economy, border security, and what the official called the president’s plans for “peace around the globe.”
He will push Congress to pass more border security funding for deportations and the border wall, the official said, and on foreign policy, he’s expected to touch on his efforts to help broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
“President Trump has accomplished more in one month than any president in four years – and the renewal of the American Dream is well underway,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “In his Joint Address to Congress, President Trump will celebrate his extraordinarily successful first month in office while outlining his bold, ambitious, and common sense vision for the future. President Trump’s Joint Address will be MUST-SEE TV.”
The speech comes as Trump moves with lightning speed to enact his agenda, including an immigration crackdown and radical overhaul of the federal government — the latter with the help of his unelected enforcer Elon Musk, who will be in the House chamber looking on.
As some of the dust settles from that blitz, a 538 analysis of public opinion polls found Trump himself to be more popular than many of his administration’s policies. And his approval rating, while higher than at this same point in his first term, is still underwater at 45%, according to Gallup.
Promises kept?
Trump has signed 76 executive orders since his inauguration, according to the Federal Register.
Barbara Perry, co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said she expects Trump’s speech to start off on the theme of “promises made, promises kept.”
“I suspect there will be some chest-pounding and drawing attention to the fact that historically, this is one of the most active and productive first 100 days and we’re not even at the 100-day mark yet,” Perry said. “They’re off the blocks really quickly.”
His executive actions include many of the culture war issues he campaigned on — such as ending federal DEI programs, making English the country’s official language, declaring the government will only recognize a person’s sex assigned at birth and banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
On immigration, Trump could promote border crossings dropping significantly in January and the Department of Homeland Security arresting thousands of migrants illegally in the country. But his “border czar,” Tom Homan, has expressed frustration with the pace of deportations so far, and the administration abruptly cleared migrants from Guantanamo Bay after pledging to use the military base to house the “worst of the worst.” Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, another signature 2024 pledge, has been temporarily blocked by the courts.
On foreign policy, in addition to his efforts to start peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the White House official said he can be expected to talk about the Middle East, although his brazen Gaza takeover plan has little public buy-in from regional power players and the administration’s reversal of American policy toward Russia and away from Ukraine has prompted concern among European allies.
On the economy, Trump can be expected to highlight tariffs he’simposed against Canada and Mexico that went into place on Tuesday, as well as additional taxes against China. But inflation continues to be a persistent problem, with some economists predicting tariffs could raise prices more, and the cost of eggs have skyrocketed amid the prevalence of avian flu.
But the Trump initiative that’s been the most controversial is the slashing of the federal bureaucracy, which is being largely overseen by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The dismantling of agencies like USAID, wholesale firings of federal workers and cutting of funds already appropriated by Congress is prompting widespread confusion and several legal challenges. Trump has defended Musk so far, including in his first Cabinet meeting last week where Musk spoke despite not being a Cabinet member.
His message to Congress?
Trump will address Congress as Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate. Despite the trifecta, Trump is pushing an expansive view of executive power that questions the role of Congress and the courts to serve as a check over federal agencies.
How aggressively he articulates that stance in front of the lawmakers and Supreme Court justices in attendance will be something to watch, said Philip Wallach, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
“I think the big question is, what does he feel like he needs from Congress? The general sense of the second Trump administration has been to come out of the gates guns blaring, wanting to accomplish everything themselves,” Wallach said. “In some ways, it seems like they mostly want Congress to stay out of their way and to cheer them on in their effort to transform the government.”
“But it’s not clear just how far they can go without new laws from Congress, including some that go ahead and dismantle previous programs,” Wallach noted.
The first big legislative test will be the budget reconciliation bill that will fund much of Trump’s agenda, though more pressing will be averting a government shutdown next week.
Back in 2017, during his first-ever joint address to Congress, Trump made a pitch for unity. It was generally regarded as one of his best political speeches, said University of Michigan speech and debate expert Aaron Kall.
Kall doesn’t expect the same tone for Tuesday night’s address, contending Trump views himself as having a “mandate” from voters after winning both the electoral college and popular vote (though data shows the victory isn’t the total landslide Trump has often portrayed it as).
“I think it will be very totalizing, very self-assured and very partisan in tone,” Kall said of Trump’s upcoming address. “This will be more in the ilk of a campaign speech.”
(WASHINGTON) — The head of the Federal Communications Commission said he is seeking an investigation of NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast over the firm’s corporate diversity initiatives.
In a post on X, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said he is concerned the companies “may be promoting invidious forms of DEI that do not comply with FCC regulations & civil rights laws.”
Carr — who, since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, has been wielding his agency’s power over broadcasters to a degree that has no modern precedent — said diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies are “by their very definition, odious to a free people whose institutions are founded on a commitment to equality.”
In a Feb. 11 letter to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, posted online by Carr, the FCC chairman points to Comcast’s corporate website, which lists diversity, equity and inclusion as “a core value of our business.” Carr also cites public reports of DEI days and DEI training as part of what the letter calls “an entire ‘DEI infrastructure'” in the entertainment company.
Carr said the inclusion efforts amount to discrimination, which, he says, “cannot be squared with any reasonable interpretation of federal law” and “can only deprive Americans of their rights to fair and equal treatment under the law.”
The FCC has long held radio and television stations to a robust set of Equal Employment Opportunity rules, which Carr says he is now using as the basis for his investigation. Last year, over Carr’s objection, then-President Joe Biden’s administration FCC moved to reinstate regulations that would force broadcasters to publicly disclose data on the race, gender and ethnicity of their employees. Those rules are now being challenged in court.
In addition to the NBC-owned television stations, Carr’s letter notes a wide range of Comcast’s businesses fall under his agency’s jurisdiction, ranging from cable and internet to wireless service. Carr says that’s one reason he’s targeting Comcast first — to serve as a shot across the bow of the entire communications industry.
“I expect that every entity the FCC regulates will be complying with our civil rights laws,” Carr said in his X post.
Democratic FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks — one of two Democrats on the panel — said he is not on board with the investigation.
“Then-Commissioner Carr blasted the prior administration for acting in a way that ‘gives the FCC a nearly limitless power to veto private sector decisions,'” Starks said in a statement. “From what I know, this enforcement action is out of our lane and out of our reach. I have asked for a briefing to understand the Enforcement Bureau’s theory of the case, the authority relied upon, and any prior precedent. This action gives me grave concern.”
In a statement provided to ABC News, a Comcast spokesperson said, “We have received an inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission and will be cooperating with the FCC to answer their questions. For decades, our company has been built on a foundation of integrity and respect for all of our employees and customers.”
Since taking office, Trump has taken aim at DEI efforts, signing an executive order to disband such programs in the federal government and cracking down on DEI initiatives in programs that receive federal funding.
Carr confirmed last week that his agency was investigating a local radio news report in San Francisco that included depictions of ICE raids in Northern California. And in what he depicted as an effort to enhance transparency in an ongoing complaint against CBS alleging “news distortion,” Carr opened the matter to public comment and directed the posting of raw outtakes from an interview Kamala Harris gave to CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”
That controversy was sparked last October by CBS’s use of two different answers by Harris to the same question from Whitaker — in a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation” and the interview as it aired in full on “60 Minutes” that night. A right-wing group known as the Center for American Rights filed a complaint, alleging violations of the FCC’s news distortion policy, a rarely-enforced doctrine that dates to the late 1960s and was designed to prohibit hoaxes and the staging of news events.
(WASHINGTON) — In a case that sits squarely at the intersection of his business and political interests, President Donald Trump is trying to stop a civil lawsuit against his multibillion-dollar social media company by arguing that he should be immune from civil litigation filed in state court while he serves as president.
Trump and his co-defendants — including FBI director nominee Kash Patel and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino — asked a Delaware judge to either issue a four-year delay of the case or dismiss a lawsuit filed by Trump Media & Technology Group co-founders Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, who alleged that Trump and company executives orchestrated a scheme to prevent them from getting their full stake in the company after it went public.
Facing an “unprecedented” number of civil lawsuits, Trump argued that having to fend off the litigation would be a “distraction” from his presidential duties and “interfere substantially” with the function of the executive branch.
“Without the protections of temporary Presidential immunity, the President will be forced to defend against these cases — and the many more that are sure to arise during his second term — all to the detriment of his office and the American people he serves,” attorneys John Reed and Theodore Kittila wrote in a filing on Friday in Delaware Chancery Court.
In December, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn agreed to temporarily pause the claim so Trump could make his immunity argument, though she noted that Trump “is not presently deemed to be immune” from the civil case. Lawyers for Trump Media and the president asked the court to establish a “brightline deferral rule” to delay any civil litigation Trump faces in state court by four years.
“State courts across the country are being called upon to sit in judgment of the sitting President, to tax his time, and to second-guess his priorities. That state of affairs — President Jefferson’s nightmare — dishonors the Presidency and debases the state courts that purport to control his actions,” the filing said.
During his first term in office, Trump was sued at least 10 times, and he returned to the presidency with at least 14 lawsuits pending, including multiple suits related to his social media company. Trump placed his stake in the company — 14,750,000 shares worth more than $3 billion — into a trust controlled by his sons before entering office this month.
If successful, Trump’s claim of “temporary presidential immunity” could provide the president an additional layer of legal protection, having already entered office with newly broadened presidential power and protection from criminal liability following the Supreme Court’s ruling last year on presidential immunity.
Defense lawyers, in Friday’s filing, claimed without evidence that Trump’s “billionaire adversaries” are funding a wave of litigation “to destroy the president.”
“The President has already been sued more than all his predecessors combined, yet his rivals promise that there is still more to come,” the lawsuit said. “That swell of litigation will pose an even greater threat to the operations of the Executive Branch and the standing of state courts that purport to sit in judgment of his conduct.”
While the Supreme Court established in Clinton v. Jones that a president does not have immunity from civil lawsuits related to personal conduct, lawyers for Trump Media argued that the decision only applies to cases in federal court. Though the Trump Media lawsuit does not center on official acts, Trump argued that the burden of defending himself would intrude on his official duties, citing an example of how President Bill Clinton consulted his personal attorney three times on the same day he was deliberating whether to go to war with Iraq.
“With the benefits of hindsight and lived experience, it now is clear that state civil litigation against the President causes real ‘diversion’ and ‘harassment’ of the Presidency, sufficient to interfere substantially with the operations of the Executive Branch,” the filing said.
The defense lawyers claimed that the lawsuit would occupy Trump’s limited “energies and attention,” which is already strained by the demands of the presidency.
“During his first term, President Trump … slept just four to five hours per night — because the burdens of the Presidency dwarfed even his responsibilities as a global business leader,” the filing said.
In a separate filing on Friday, Trump’s personal lawyers told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the president should be immune from any civil claims related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack because he was acting in his official capacity as president when he sought to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
When reached for comment, regarding the Trump Media lawsuit, Richie Jones, an attorney for Moss and Litinsky, provided a quote by former President Theodore Roosevelt, saying it was “the best we can do in terms of comment.”
“No man is above the law, and no man is below it. Nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it,” Jones wrote.
