The Editorial Board
Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out
Don't get distracted. Don't get overwhelmed. Don't get paralyzed and pulled into the chaos that President Trump and his allies are purposely creating with the volume and speed of executive orders; the effort to dismantle the federal government; the performative attacks on immigrants, transgender people and the very concept of diversity itself; the demands that other countries accept Americans as their new overlords; and the dizzying sense that the White House could do or say anything at any moment. All of this is intended to keep the country on its back heel so President Trump can blaze ahead in his drive for maximum executive power, so no one can stop the audacious, ill-conceived and frequently illegal agenda being advanced by his administration. For goodness sake, don't tune out.
The actions of this presidency need to be tracked, and when they cross moral or legal lines, they need to be challenged, boldly and thoughtfully, with the confidence that the nation's system of checks and balances will prove up to the task. There are reasons for concern on that front, of course. The Republican-led Congress has so far abdicated its role as a coequal branch of government, from allowing its laws and spending directives to be systematically cast aside to fearfully assenting to the president stocking his cabinet with erratic, unqualified loyalists. Much of civil society — from the business community, to higher education, to parts of the corporate media — has been disturbingly quiet, even acquiescent.
But there are encouraging signs as well. The courts, the most important check on a president who aims to expand his legally authorized powers and remove any guardrails, so far have held, blocking a number of Mr. Trump's initiatives. States have also taken action, with several Democratic attorneys general suing over Mr. Trump's attempts to freeze federal grant funding and end birthright citizenship and vowing to fight Elon Musk's team's access to federal payment systems containing personal information. State or local officials are also defending their laws in the face of federal immigration raids and fighting Mr. Trump's executive order barring gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. And independent-minded journalism organizations have continued excellent reporting on the fire hose of excesses of these early days, bringing essential information to the public.
None of this is to say that Mr. Trump shouldn't have the opportunity to govern. Seventy-seven million Americans cast ballots to put Mr. Trump back in the White House, and the Republican Party, now fully remade in service of the MAGA movement, holds majorities in both houses of Congress. Elections, it is often noted, have consequences. But is this unconstitutional overhaul of the American government — far more sweeping, haphazard and cruel than anything he campaigned on — really what those voters signed up for? To put America's system of checks and balances, its alliances and its national security at risk? Because, beyond the bluster, that is what Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk and their supporters are doing.
Three weeks into the second Trump term, here are a handful of the places where Americans can't afford to turn away:
Elon Musk's Executive Takeover. The problem is not that Mr. Musk is unelected, it's that he is breaking the law. Not even a full-time government employee, he is trying to unilaterally shut down or dismantle entire federal agencies and departments, ignoring congressional mandates — this is prohibited by the Constitution. He and his team are behind the announced buyout offers to millions of civil servants — including the entire C.I.A. work force — and have effectively forced out top officials whom he has no power to fire. He is on a mission to rampage through the government's confidential payment systems with an anarchist's glee, deciding on his own which aspects of federal spending are legitimate, and substituting his instinctual embrace of conspiracy theories for any effort to understand the government functions he's undermining. Both the president and Mr. Musk seem to relish that most of their actions are plainly illegal, daring the courts to step in and stop them, on the theory that these laws are flawed to begin with. At the same time, you have the richest man in the world leading this effort, still holding interests in his private companies, which do billions of dollars in business with and are regulated by the federal government. It's a level of conflict of interest unlike anything we've seen in the modern era.
The Administration vs. Public Officials (a.k.a. Trump's Enemies). Along with terminating more than a dozen members of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington who'd worked on cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, the Trump administration began collecting the names of thousands of F.B.I. personnel who helped to investigate crimes associated with the attack on the Capitol. Several top-ranking officials at the agency have already been fired. The move offered an early glimpse at how Mr. Trump and his nominee to run the F.B.I., Kash Patel — who published a literal enemies list of "Executive Branch Deep State" members — might use federal law enforcement against the president's political opponents. In perhaps the most disturbing warning to those who might think to question or defy him, Mr. Trump stripped several of his former advisers of security protection that was deemed necessary given credible threats by the Iranian government to assassinate them for actions they took under his direct order.
The President's Imperial Bluster and Attacks on Allies. Mr. Trump has spent weeks coyly suggesting the United States is on the verge of illegally seizing territory on three continents, leaving all levels of consternation in his wake. Then there are his long-planned, seemingly legal — even if extremely ill advised — tariffs. All the threats and insults have gained Mr. Trump some short-term concessions, but none are likely to make America's economy stronger or make America safer in the world. Running roughshod over centuries-old alliances will hurt the targeted countries, but it also could compromise national security, raise the price of goods, disrupt global commerce, benefit adversaries like China and Russia that are eager to fill the void of an increasingly distrusted America.
Public Health Imperiled. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine skeptic, has not been confirmed as Mr. Trump's health and human services secretary yet. But the administration is already taking steps to weaken and wreck public and global health protections. On Thursday, The Times reported that the administration plans to reduce the staff of more than 10,000 Americans at the U.S. Agency for International Development to only about 300 people, and cancel nearly 800 awards and contracts the agency administered. The president — much less Mr. Musk — cannot shut down a federal agency without a vote by Congress. To do so is also illegal under the Constitution. More than half of U.S.A.I.D.'s spending in 2023 went to health programs intended to stop the spread of diseases, such as polio, Ebola, tuberculosis, H.I.V./AIDS and malaria or to humanitarian assistance to respond to emergencies and help stabilize war-torn regions. If you care about preventing the next pandemic or the pressures of global migration, U.S.A.I.D. is an investment you should want the United States to make.
The President's Anti-Civil Rights Blitz. Mr. Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders and pronouncements that set back decades of progress on civil rights and often openly defy the Constitution. He has especially targeted transgender Americans and has threatened federal funding for public schools that do not adhere to right-wing ideology about how history and race should be discussed. He has also found nearly daily excuses to rail against diversity, equity and inclusion policies, even blaming D.E.I. for the Jan. 29 air crash in Washington and strongly implying that any air traffic controller who is a woman or not white is inferior and has been given a job for the wrong reasons. And the new attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced on Wednesday that private companies that choose to maintain their own diversity and inclusion policies could be targeted for "criminal investigations."
America faces a new reality, and it demands wisdom, endurance and courage. The United States is now led by a president who appears willing to stampede over any person, law, congressional statute or country that stands in his way. He is driven by impulse and is disinterested in rules, history or reality.
How Americans and the world handle such a president will determine much about the next four years, and it will ask much from all of us. We must meet the moment. Mr. Trump won the election fair and square, but his position is that of president, not king or god-emperor. Every time Congress allows him to exceed his constitutional role, it encourages more anti-democratic behavior and weakens the legislature's ability to check further erosion of the norms and values that have helped make this nation the freest, richest and strongest in the world.
| Feb 8, 2025, 6:31 PM (13 hours ago) |  | ||
| ||||
Yesterday the National Institutes of Health under the Trump administration announced a new policy that will dramatically change the way the United States funds medical research. Now, when a researcher working at a university receives a federal grant for research, that money includes funds to maintain equipment and facilities and to pay support staff that keep labs functioning. That indirect funding is built into university budgets for funding expensive research labs, and last year reached about 26% of the grant money distributed. Going forward, the administration says it will cap the permitted amount of indirect funding at 15%. NIH is the nation's primary agency for research in medicine, health, and behavior. NIH grants are fiercely competitive; only about 20% of applications succeed. When a researcher applies for one, their proposal is evaluated first by a panel of their scholarly peers and then, if it passes that level, an advisory council, which might ask for more information before awarding a grant. Once awarded and accepted, an NIH grant carries strict requirements for reporting and auditing, as well as record retention. In 2023, NIH distributed about $35 billion through about 50,000 grants to over 300,000 researchers at universities, medical schools, and other research institutions. Every dollar of NIH funding generated about $2.46 in economic activity. For every $100 million of funding, research supported by NIH generates 76 patents, which produce 20% more economic value than other U.S. patents and create opportunities for about $600 million in future research and development. As Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times explained, the authors of Project 2025 called for the cuts outlined in the new policy, claiming those cuts would "reduce federal taxpayer subsidization of leftist agendas." Dr. David A. Baltrus of the University of Arizona told Jewett and Stolberg that the new policy is "going to destroy research universities in the short term, and I don't know after that. They rely on the money. They budget for the money. The universities were making decisions expecting the money to be there." Although Baltrus works in agricultural research, focusing on keeping E. coli bacteria out of crops like sprouts and lettuce, cancer research is the top area in which NIH grants are awarded. Anthropologist Erin Kane figured out what the new NIH policy would mean for states by looking at institutions that received more than $10 million in grants in 2024 and figuring out what percentage of their indirect costs would not be eligible for grant money under the new formula. Six schools in New York won $2.4 billion, including $953 million for indirect costs. The new indirect rate would allow only $220 million for overhead, a loss of $723 million. States across the country will experience significant losses. Eight Florida schools received about $673 million, $231 million for indirect costs. The new indirect rate would limit that funding to $66 million, a loss of $165 million. Six schools in Ohio received a total of about $700 million; they would lose $194 million. Four schools in Missouri received a total of about $830 million; they would lose $212 million. Lawmakers from Republican-dominated states are now acknowledging what those of us who study the federal budget have pointed out for decades: the same Republican-dominated states that complain bitterly about the government's tax policies are also the same states that take most federal tax money. Dana Nickel of Politico reported yesterday that Republican leaders in the states claim to be enthusiastic about the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency but are mobilizing to make sure those cuts won't hurt their own state programs that depend on federal money. Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt told Nickel that governors can provide advice about what cuts will be most effective. "Instead of just across the board cutting, we thought, man, they need some help from the governors to say, 'We can be more efficient in this area or this area, or if you allow block grants in this area, you can reduce our expenditures by 10 percent.' And so that's our goal." Yesterday, Tim Carpenter of the Kansas Reflector reported that Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) is concerned about the Trump administration's freeze on food distributions through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID buys about $2 billion in U.S. agricultural products a year, and farmers are already struggling with rising costs, low prices, and concern with tariffs. Their spokespeople urge the continuation of USAID: the senior director of government affairs at the American Farm Bureau Federation said that "USAID plays a critical role in reducing hunger around the world while sourcing markets for the surplus foods America's farmers and ranchers grow." Moran added: "Food stability is essential to political stability, and our food aid programs help feed the hungry, bolster our national security and provide an important market for our farmers, especially when commodity prices are low." Meanwhile, federal employees are telling the stories of the work they've done for the country. Yesterday, a public letter whose author claimed to be an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation whose job is at risk in Trump's purge of the agency wrote an amalgamation of the FBI agents being purged: "I am the coach of your child's soccer team," the letter read. "I sit next to you on occasion in religious devotion. I am a member of the PTA. With friends, you celebrated my birthday. I collected your mail and took out your trash while you were away from home. I played a round of golf with you. I am a veteran. I am the average neighbor in your community." But there is another side to that person, the author wrote. "I orchestrated a clandestine operation to secure the release of an allied soldier held captive by the Taliban. I prevented an ISIS terrorist from boarding a commercial aircraft. I spent 3 months listening to phone intercepts in real time to gather evidence needed to dismantle a violent drug gang. I recruited a source to provide critical intelligence on Russian military activities in Africa. I rescued a citizen being tortured to near death by members of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. I interceded and stopped a juvenile planning to conduct a school shooting. I spent multiple years monitoring the activities of deep cover foreign intelligence officers, leading to their arrest and deportation. I endured extensive hardship to infiltrate a global child trafficking organization. I have been shot in the line of duty." "[W]hen I am gone," they wrote, "who will do the quiet work that is behind the facade of your average neighbor?" Less publicly, Joseph Grzymkowski expressed on Facebook his pride in 38 years of service "with utmost dedication, integrity, and passion. I was not waste, fraud, and abuse," he wrote. "Nor was I the "Deep State.... We are the faces of your Government: ordinary and diverse Americans, your friends and neighbors, working behind the scenes in the interest of the people we serve. We are not the enemy." Wth his statement, Grzymkowski posted a magazine clipping from 1996, when he was a Marine Analyst working in the Marine Navigation Department for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), located in Bethesda, Maryland—now known as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in Springfield, Virginia. That office provides maritime intelligence for navigation, international obligations, and joint military operations. On January 6, 1996, a historic blizzard dumped snowfalls of 19 to 31 inches on the East Coast. Stranded alone in the station when his relief couldn't get through the snow to work, Grzymkowsky stayed at the radio. "I realized there were mariners who needed navigation safety messages delivered, and I wasn't about to jeopardize the safety of life or cargo at sea simply because we were experiencing a blizzard," he told a journalist. "One doesn't leave a watch on a ship until properly relieved, and I felt my responsibility at the watch desk as keenly as I would have felt my responsibility for the navigation on the bridge of a ship." For 33 hours, he stayed at his desk and sent out navigation safety messages. "I had a job to do and I did it," he recalled. "There were ships at sea relying on me, and I wasn't going to let them down. It's nothing that any other member of this department w |
No comments:
Post a Comment