Hello friends,
Today is May Day, and across America, working people are protesting economic inequality with a day of “No school. No work. No shopping.”

This was Year 2, Week 18. I’m going to keep it brief.

What happening in science & higher ed

• The entire National Science Board (NSB) was abruptly fired late last Friday. For more than 75 years, this group has overseen the NSF, guiding the research agendas and funding that gave us everything from GPS to CRISPR. The administration has systematically delegitimized it; Dr. Alondra Nelson described it as consultation without consequence when she resigned last year. The 22 NSB members who were just fired join an increasingly long list of scientific experts who have been stripped of advisory and oversight powers since January 2025. A decidedly incomplete list includes:
  • all 17 members of ACIP
  • well over 100 members across fourteen terminated NSF advisory committees
  • the 14 members of the terminated Advisory Committee on Long COVID
  • the 8 members of the terminated Academic Research Council at the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
  • as well as nominees for groups that were terminated before their launch, like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Health Equity Advisory Committee
• Update on the Surgeon General appointment: Dr. Casey Means is out after failing to secure necessary support to clear Senate confirmation. The new nominee is Dr. Nicole Saphier, who does hold an active medical license. Her position on vaccination isn’t entirely terrible but wouldn’t it be nice to have a surgeon general who isn’t shilling a line of supplements? I wish MAHA were more focused on truly toxic threats, like the possible demise of the EPA’s Integrated Risk information System.
• An umbrella program that includes Upward Bound and the McNair Scholars Program is flagged for elimination in the White House budget proposal. Fortunately, it looks like appropriators from both political parties are opposed to ending TRIO at this point. The Education Department is also aiming to end programs like GEAR-UP and making new moves to choke off funding to Minority Serving Institutions.
• The National Interagency Fire Center has released the summer wildfire outlook (PDF) for the western US. Significant fire risk is already in play, though the National Preparedness Level is currently at a 2 (out of 5). It is unlikely to stay low. Our snow drought is particularly severe: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming all just set new record lows and this week’s snow water equivalent map is stupefying. In one small bit of better news on the emergency response front, some of the FEMA employees who were terminated for signing the Katrina Declaration were just reinstated yesterday, along with other agency staff. Dr. Jenna Norton, an architect of the Bethesda Declaration and stalwart voice decrying political interference in science, has also just been told she’s removed from administrative leave and will return to work on Monday.

And what’s next

Next week is Public Service Recognition Week. I like the idea of thanking those federal scientists and other civil servants who are serving with integrity under appalling conditions.

The Supreme Court desecrated the Voting Rights Act this week. It’s a travesty and will have devastating consequences. I’m incandescently angry. We all should be.

For now, I hope you can turn your focus to rest or protest, as makes best sense to you.

Stay strong,
Liz