Employees of the National Science Foundation (NSF) are going public with what they described as “politically motivated and legally questionable” actions by the Trump administration related to their agency.
Their concerns range from mass firings by the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency to interference with the grant process.
In particular, the employees allege that for grants “a covert and ideologically driven secondary review process by unqualified political appointees is now interfering with the scientific merit-based review system.”
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The accusation and others are detailed in a letter addressed to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Lofgren said at a press conference that the letter was being submitted to her office as “a protected whistleblower disclosure.”
It was signed by 149 staffers, virtually all of whom signed either anonymously or whose names were redacted in the version of the letter that was made public on Tuesday.
The NSF is an independent science agency that supports scientific research across various fields including biology, engineering, computer science and geoscience.
The agency declined to comment on the letter.
The staffers also said that the administration canceled 1,600 NSF grants in April and May using “undisclosed criteria” and that the White House Office of Management was withholding $2.2 billion of the agency’s $9 billion budget that was appropriated by Congress.
“Members of the administration have a say on what programs get funded and what proposals get awarded,” said Jesus Soriano, president of the AFGE Local 3403, which represents NSF employees.
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Their full list of concerns was: “A Proposed Budget Cut That Would Cripple American Science,” “Termination of Active Research Awards Without Transparency or Lawful Justification,” “Political Review of Scientific Grants,” “Withholding of Appropriated Funds,” “Unlawful Terminations and Threatened Mass Reductions in Force,” “Coerced Resignations and Loss of Expertise,” “Unannounced and Unplanned Eviction from Headquarters” and “NSF’s Betrayal of Scientific Integrity Through Politicized Probation Policies.”
The letter comes after staff members at other agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health published letters of “dissent” to raise concerns about Trump administration policies. The administration put the signers of the EPA letter on leave after its publication.
