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126 points voxadam | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.518s | source
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int0x29[dead post] ◴[] No.44053910[source]
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1. perihelions ◴[] No.44054059[source]
That's a howler of a line indeed, given the NSF was slashed >50% just weeks ago (the federal agency funding this physics research).
replies(1): >>44057474 #
2. whatshisface ◴[] No.44057474[source]
The president is refusing to spend over half of the money Congress has given to the NSF. (Justifications from those in the administration have focused on the fact that funding science supports their, quote, "ideological" enemies, universities.) In response, Congress has the right to make the NSF more independent, or to specify statutorily what the money has to be spent on. Under normal circumstances the fact that Congresspeople themselves were the ones who appropriated the funds would guarantee their support for seeing that their will was put into effect, but in these times there's no telling under what pressures they find themselves to abandon their positions.

Technically the budget has not been cut, and there is enough time for Congress to rescue it - but only if they believe the interest of the responsible public outweighs the risk of being seen to defect from Trumpism that would face them in the upcoming primary election.

Unlike the NIH situation, people are not directly dying from cancelled trials and perishables aren't being tossed out of refrigerators. There is still time to save American hard science from Trumpsim, if Congress could have a little pride and stand up for themselves. Otherwise the attack on our chemistry and physics laboratories will be a lot bigger than anything that has ever happened in a war.