Defending Science for the Public Good in Minnesota

We are a group of scientists, public health professionals, researchers, and educators in Minnesota, working with two organizations: American Association of University Professors (AAUP) - UMNTC and Stand Up for Science - Minnesota (link is to national site).

We are organizing to make the public aware of how Trump's and DOGE's attacks on science and research are harming the public interest. This site is in progress and will be updated regularly.

If you'd like to have a scientist visit your organization to talk about what's going on, get in touch; we will work with you to find someone who fits your needs and can speak to the issues most important to your audience.

If you'd like to join us at upcoming actions highlighting the impact of attacks on science, let us know.

• Basic facts:

  • Summary of impact on UMN research of cuts to indirect costs

• Further reading:

  • "The Bethesda Declaration: A Call for NIH and HHS Leadership to Deliver on Promises of Academic Freedom and Scientific Excellence," STAND UP FOR SCIENCE 

  • “Scientists reel as turmoil roils National Science Foundation” Nell Greenfieldboyce" NPR,  May 2, 2025 

  • "World Scientists Look Elsewhere as U.S. Labs Stagger Under Trump Cuts" By James Glanz, New York Times,  May 31, 2025

  • "16 States Sue Trump Over $1.4 Billion in Science Cuts," By Benjamin Weiser and Katrina Miller, May 28, 2025

  • A group of attorneys general, led by Letitia James of New York, argues that National Science Foundation programs are critical for leading in science and technology.

  • “University endowments can’t replace federal funding"  by Kai Ryssdal and Sarah Leeson, Marketplace, Mar 26, 2025

  • U of M has lost 79 grants totaling more than $22M from federal cuts, by Mark Zdechlik, May 11, 2025

  • “Science on hold — how federal cuts are shaking up university research: The University of Minnesota’s labs power life-saving science, but now they are being asked to do more with less,” by Owen McDonnell, MN Daily,  May 9, 2025 

Alik Widge, a principal investigator of the Translational Neuroengineering lab here at the U, talks about how important these indirect costs are for running his lab.

• Trump and DOGE are trying to end the Department of Education and have cut billions of dollars in education funding

  • A massive decrease in federal funding will balloon class sizes, lead to the loss of 180,000 teaching jobs, and increase racial disparities in education. 

  • Title IX enforcement will be gutted, rolling back protections against sexual harassment and assault in schools.

  • Accommodations for students with disabilities will be left to state politicians, threatening these programs entirely (95% of students with disabilities attend public schools).

  • Students and families who receive support to attend college could lose Pell Grants or federal student loans, leading to more students dropping out, fewer choices, and fewer options for families.

  • According to an April 2025 newsletter from Congresswoman Betty McCollum: “Just this year, eleven grants from the Department of Education totaling nearly $2,000,000 set to be sent to the University of Minnesota have been cancelled.” 

  • According to a May 2025 message from Kari Schloner, Executive Director of the arts program at Northrop Auditorium, U if MN: ."Many artists and arts organizations, including Northrop, recently learned that our funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has been withdrawn. This decision came after the funds were offered, the commitments to artists were made, the resources for the work had been allocated, and in some cases, the projects already completed. Additionally, the proposed FY26 federal budget calls for the complete elimination of the NEA, which would unravel our nation’s cultural infrastructure—one that supports arts and culture in every district across the country." 

• Further reading:

  • "Trump Bill’s Caps on Grad School Loans Could Worsen Doctor Shortage," By Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, June 9, 2025

  • “Civil Rights, Research, and More: What’s Hit Hardest by Massive Ed. Dept. Cuts” by Brooke Schultz, Mark Lieberman, Sarah Schwartz, Ileana Najarro & Matthew Stone — March 12, 2025

  • “Trump administration cuts more than $1.3 million in grants from Minnesota museums, institutions” by Alex V. Cipolle MPR, April 24, 2025 

    • Due to Trump's cuts, the IMLS pulled $625,000 in grants from the Science Museum, $250,000 from the Walker, $248,929 from the Mille Lacs Band and $212,714 from the Ramsey County Historical Society.

    • The IMLS rescinded a grant awarded to the Walker in late 2024 to help the Minneapolis museum “reduce barriers for visitors with disabilities by planning and implementing interpretive tools and programs for learners with disabilities.”

“For second time, Minnesota universities lose federal grants to support teachers in training: Three grants to the universities of St. Thomas and Minnesota totaled nearly $12 million” by Elliot Hughes, The Minnesota Star Tribune, April 30, 2025 at 8:25PM

• Trump and DOGE are cutting national parks staff by 30% and may try to sell off national parks to commercial interests

• Trump has forced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cancel almost 800 environmental justice grants to communities to help them monitor and clean up pollution and recover from climate losses

• Further reading

  • Open letter from thousands of scientists about the impacts of Trump's attacks on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

  • "Trump’s First 100 Days Have Unleashed an “All-Out Assault” on the Environment" by Kiley Bense et al., Mother Jones. May 1, 2025.

  • “US EPA plans to cut staff to 1980s levels, dissolve research office” by Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, May 2, 2025

  • “Parks in Peril: Cutting Park Funding”, National Parks Conservation Association

  • “How DOGE cuts are jeopardizing our national parks, "America's best idea" by Conor Knighton, March 16, 2025, CBS News

  • "'The science doesn't change:' Minnesota researcher among hundreds let go from flagship U.S. climate report” Gretchen Brown, MPR, April 30, 2025

• Under Trump, the National Institutes of Health has largely halted issuing grants for medical and public health research, as illustrated in the graphs above from Jeremy Berg, former editor-in-chief of Science (more graphs)

• In Minnesota, federal grant cuts are leading hundreds of state health workers to be laid off

• RFK Jr, acting under Trump, has ordered the part of the National Institutes of Health that studies emerging infectious disease threats like Ebola to stop all work

• Further reading

  • "How the proposed changes to Medicaid could affect Minnesotans," by Angela Davis and Cari Dwyer, MPR, May 28, 2025

  • "The Gutting of America’s Medical Research: Here Is Every Canceled or Delayed N.I.H. Grant," By Irena Hwang, Jon Huang, Emily Anthes, Blacki Migliozzi and Benjamin Mueller New York Times, June 4, 2025

  • "Woman’s life-saving treatment delayed by Trump cuts to NIH: ‘Cancer shouldn’t be political’ by Rachel Leingang, The Guardian, 28 May 2025 

  • "Studies of Breast Cancer and Other Diseases Threatened by New Policy" By Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, May 15, 2025

  •  "Minnesota Medicaid explained: Who’s on it, how much it costs, what could change: Medicaid helps cover health costs for roughly 1.2 million people in Minnesota, but federal cuts could mean major changes," by  Shadi Bushra, Minnpost, 05/08/2025

  • "The House Republicans’ Budget Bill Guts Basic Needs Programs for the Most Vulnerable Americans to Give Tax Breaks to the Rich," Center for American Progress, May 12, 2025

  • "Proposed US Budget Bill Will Harm Right to Health," Human Rights Watch, May 15, 2025

  •  New studies show what's at stake if Medicaid is scaled back, by Leslie Walker, NPR, May 20, 2025 12:01 PM

  • “How cuts at the National Institutes of Health could impact Americans' health” by Sharin Alfonzi, Ashley Velie, Eliza Costas, April 27, 2025, CBS News 

  • Trump health cuts create ‘real danger’ around disease outbreaks, workers warn, Michael Sainato, The Guardian, Sun 11 May 2025

  • “A Life-Changing Scientific Study Ended by the Trump Administration: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., declared chronic diseases an 'existential threat.' Then his agency terminated one of the world’s longest-running diabetes trials” by Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, April 28, 2025 

  • “For Our Health warns the proposed HHS budget cuts put Americans at risk” APHA, April 25, 2025 

  • “The Science Fields and State Hit Hardest by Trump NIH Cuts, in 4 Charts” by Max Kozlov, Chris Ryan & Nature magazine , Scientific American April 11, 2025

  • “The NIH budget is on a fast track to disaster” Anonymous, April 28, 2025

  • "New images could change cancer diagnostics, but ICE detained the Harvard scientist who analyzes them" by Jean Lee, NBC News, April 21, 2025.

  • “HHS funding slashed by 30 percent in budget proposal” by Adam Cancryn, Politico, 04/16/2025 

  • "RFK Jr. to End 'Godsend' Narcan Program That Helped Reduce Overdose Deaths Despite His Past Heroin Addiction," M.B. Mack, Latin Times, Apr 29 2025

  • "University of Minnesota researchers, lawmakers decry Trump’s proposed cuts to medical research grants: The U could lose up to $150 million in funding, which would jeopardize many researchers’ work." By Erin Adler and Dee DePass, The Minnesota Star Tribune, February 13, 2025

• DOGE is every single research center run by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the part of the federal government that works to protect workers from toxic exposures (like asbestos, silica, pesticides, and wildfire smoke), with 2/3 of NIOSH staff cut

• DOGE budget cuts threaten OSHA's ability to do its job protecting workers, and Trump's attacks on diversity undermine basic OSHA activities

• Further reading

  • "‘A huge impact on worker safety’: Protection for miners, firefighters in jeopardy after CDC cuts", by Meg Tirrell, CNN, April 6, 2025.

  • "Coal miners' health care hit hard in job cuts to CDC"  by Yuki Noguchi, NPR, April 9, 2025.

  • “Where Medicaid Budget Cuts Would Hit Hardest” by Katharina Buchholz Forbes 03/14/25

  • “Layoffs and grant cuts at HHS threaten the health of our communities” by AFSCME Staff · Thursday, April 03, 2025 

“In Minnesota, the federal funding cuts represent 25% of the state’s Department of Health budget. A total of 170 people were laid off — including 30 AFSCME members. More layoffs are possible.”

At least two-thirds of the staff at NIOSH [National Institute of health and Safety] — nearly 900 employees — are expected to lose their jobs. This is an agency dedicated to ensuring worker safety and health — with potential consequences at workplaces where AFSCME members work. NIOSH staff investigate outbreaks and injuries, like a deadly fungal outbreak that closed a Michigan paper mill in 2023, and recommend ways to reduce hazards and prevent work-related illness.

No Kings march and rally, St. Paul, Saturday June 14 11am-3pm

- The march starts at St Paul college at 11am and goes to the Capitol, where there will be a rally.

- Members of AAUP and SUFS plan to meet at Cathedral Hill Park between 10 and 10:30am

and then go together to St. Paul College. 

- Bring a sign if you can

Want to join us?  Let us know.

We'll be holding actions to defend science at many locations this summer. Get in touch if you want to help!