Timeline of Main Events

• February 2025: The Trump administration initially fires more than 800 probationary workers at NOAA.
• March 2025: A federal court blocks the Trump administration's initial firing of NOAA workers, and they are reinstated.
• March 2025 (Late): The Trump administration begins cutting and withholding federal grants for several major universities, starting with $400 million in funding pulled from Columbia University. This is followed by a pause of $175 million in funding to the University of Pennsylvania and a review of roughly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts to Harvard.
• April 8, 2025: News reports about President Trump's NASA pick and their hearing for a top spot within the agency emerge.
• April 9, 2025: The Trump administration announces it is cutting nearly $4 million in federal funding for climate change research at Princeton University, citing "exaggerated and implausible climate threats" and increased "climate anxiety." This cut impacts the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System, a collaboration between NOAA and Princeton.
• April 10, 2025: The Trump administration informs NOAA workers that they are being fired again, following an appeals court overturning the earlier ruling that had blocked the terminations. This affects hundreds of climate and weather specialists.
• April 11, 2025:News breaks about President Trump's preliminary budget proposal to Congress, known as a "passback," which would cut NASA's science budget by nearly half.
• Details emerge that the proposed NASA cuts would severely impact astrophysics, heliophysics, Earth science, and planetary science, potentially terminating missions like the next major space telescope (including the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope) and the Mars Sample Return mission. The Hubble and Webb telescopes would remain supported.
• An internal budget document reveals the Trump administration's aim to end nearly all climate research conducted by NOAA. This includes eliminating NOAA's climate research centers, cutting hundreds of federal and academic climate scientists, and slashing funding for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).
• The proposed NOAA budget cuts would also impact competitive climate research grants, regional climate data collection, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, college and aquaculture sea grant programs, the National Ocean Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
• NOAA forecasters declare the end of La Niña.

The recent changes in the US research and political landscape, particularly following the new administration of President Donald Trump, are having a profound negative impact on the US scientific and medical communities. Drastic cuts to research funding, widespread layoffs of federal scientists, immigration crackdowns, and concerns over academic freedom are leading to a significant exodus of talent from the United States. This briefing document outlines the main themes and important facts from the provided sources, highlighting the distress and uncertainty within these sectors and the increasing interest among US scientists and doctors in relocating to countries like Europe and Canada.

Key Themes and Findings:

1. Mass Exodus of Scientists Driven by Funding Cuts and Uncertainty:

• A Nature poll revealed that 75% of US scientists who responded (over 1,200 out of 1,600) are considering leaving the United States following the disruptions prompted by the Trump administration.
• "More than 1,200 scientists who responded to a Nature poll — three-quarters of the total respondents — are considering leaving the United States following the disruptions prompted by Trump." (Nature News)
• This trend is particularly strong among early-career researchers, with a large majority of postgraduate researchers (548 out of 690) and PhD students (255 out of 340) considering leaving.
• The primary drivers for this consideration are slashed research funding due to a government-wide cost-cutting initiative led by Elon Musk, and the halting of broad swathes of federally funded science.
• "Trump’s administration has slashed research funding and halted broad swathes of federally funded science, under a government-wide cost-cutting initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk." (Nature News)
• Tens of thousands of federal employees, including many scientists, have been fired and rehired following a court order, creating further instability and fear of future job losses.
• Researchers are experiencing uncertainty and disruption across all aspects of the US research enterprise due to immigration crackdowns and battles over academic freedom.

outlines the critical situation surrounding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the Trump administration actively pursues its dismantling. This development coincides with a significant increase in climate-related major disaster declarations in the United States, reaching a near-record high in 2024. The turmoil within FEMA, including stalled funding, hiring freezes, and a planned reduction in force, threatens the agency's ability to effectively respond to the growing frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Experts warn that shifting disaster response responsibilities primarily to states, while simultaneously weakening FEMA, could have severe consequences for communities across the nation.

Main Themes and Important Ideas/Facts:

1. Trump Administration's Intent to Eliminate or Fundamentally Reform FEMA:

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has vowed to "eliminate FEMA," and top officials from FEMA and DHS have met to discuss options for shutting down the agency.
• There are discussions about moving more quickly to dismantle FEMA instead of following President Trump's executive order establishing a FEMA Review Council.
• President Trump stated his desire to "begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA."
• An executive order has been signed outlining the desire to shift more disaster response and recovery responsibility to the states.

2. Current Turmoil and Stalled Operations Within FEMA:

• FEMA is already in turmoil, with disaster assistance, grant money, and hiring largely stalled.
• Hurricane planning for the upcoming season has been paused: "March is typically when we’re finalizing hurricane plans. A lot of that got paused,” a FEMA official told CNN. “So, it’s already having an impact, which is that we’re not preparing.”
• A new hiring process requires direct approval from Secretary Noem's team for renewing the terms of many of the agency's workers, including those in public-facing roles critical for disaster response and recovery. These impacted positions include CORE, Reservists, Local Hires, and Temporary Fulltime Employees, which constitute roughly 74% of FEMA's workforce.
• "I think their terms will be allowed to expire, and they won’t be renewed," a FEMA official stated.
• Over $100 billion in previously awarded grant money and disaster assistance was frozen due to a lack of guidance on adhering to Trump's executive orders restricting funding for immigration programs and sanctuary cities. While guidance has since been issued, concerns about disruptions persist.
• Nearly all FEMA payments outside of individual disaster assistance have been paused, impacting states, localities, and nonprofits, including fire departments and disaster recovery efforts.
• The firing of four FEMA employees, including the chief financial officer, for approving grant money to New York City to help shelter migrants has had a "chilling effect" on FEMA workers, with fears of job loss for misconstrued payments.
• A hiring freeze is in place, and Acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton submitted a plan to Secretary Noem for reducing FEMA's workforce, aiming to "reduce the agency’s staffing posture through unification of like-functions and with care that enhances our ability to deliver the mission, examines our geographic footprint, and rebalances federal and state roles in disaster preparedness, response and recovery."