With Trump planning to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants, it seems that infrastructure week is finally here.

Thanks to @drugmonkey.bsky.social for elaborating.

Also we want to distinguish between fine, longstanding CSR processes (reorganizing study sections as science evolves, see below)…

and this, a bad change that helps Project 2025 (believing that review doesn’t need science expertise 😡).

"they don't want people with expertise - they want SROs to be limited as to how long they interact with a particular scope of research and that community"

"the dysfunction of the place [CSR] is incredible"

Hearing from #NIH sources the peer review office (CSR) is being broken.

"They [top of CSR] want ppl with zero expertise in the review area to run review. I heard they don't want people to be "distracted by the science." (??)
It's crazy to think a person can run good review for any kind of science."

I think there is another lesson here: this regime takes some very big swings that, even as they get WILDLY slapped down, allow cover for other bad decisions that nonetheless get legitimized.

What if Dems did something similar for the good, PROGRESSIVE, things some of us want?

Yssouf Keita @youlle.bsky.social + Follow • Spam La Côte d'Ivoire est un pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest doté de stations balnéaires, de forêts tropicales et d'un patrimoine colonial français Abidjan, sur la côte Atlantique Gavin America @gavinamerica.bsky.social + Follow • Spam Gavin America Maggie @courageousgirl2.bsky.social + Follow Health Science and Technology Teacher RN retired OBAMA GOTV HQ Daughter of ANTIFA "The Greatest Generation" We need this Courage now in this Hellscape of Corruption and... Arthur Seaton #FBPE #Wessex @southsaxon.bsky.social + Follow Working class history, photography, railways, skiing, cats, corvids and goats! A sense of humour is essential. Cat butler. Reluctant intellectual. Rare disease survivor. Born at 314.3p... I DID THAT Trump Did That (sticker in bio) @fedupstudio.bsky.social + Follow Trump Did That stickers and other anti-Trump merch: www.etsy.com/shop/FedUpStudio Trump is president again and prices are up. Remind people...

so many followers

apoirolyb.bsky.social @apoirolyb.bsky.social Right now, the Universities are controlled by the Left, which is as bad as the Extreme Right!! 2:54 PM • Mar 26, 2026

Very likely a spam account, and the good thing is you can not only block them, but first click through to see their followers and block everyone that follows them too.

“Rightwing billionaires want to privatize NIH and use it to control universities.“

We’ve been saying this since Jan 2025

This is a war against universities and truth itself, and 🧪 and scientific leaders must wake up to that before it’s too late.

Trump and rightwing billionaires are enemies of education, science, and media because they are enemies of truth.

NIH grant terminations affected women scientists more than men, study finds A new paper shows that women, particularly those early in their careers, have been disproportionately affected by NIH grant terminations.

When I retired only around 25% of Full Professors in STEM were women. I was proud be one of them, and to support the success of fellow women in STEM through mentoring.

This was not an organic process. It took hard work and persistence.

And now The Regime is setting us back decades.

The US slashed research for cancer, Alzheimer’s, mental health — and nearly everything else Revealed in one chart.

This is a national disgrace and it should cost Bhattacharya his job at NIH.

It should result in him being ostracized from academia for the rest of his career.

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The Great Barrington Declaration is one of the most wrongheaded, shortsighted, cruel, callous, and villainous arguments ever made.

Literally ever.

Representing the interests of big business, its authors ought to be remembered in infamy. So too should their allies.

A picture of Russell Vought wearing an adorable pink and gold birthday party hat, with balloons and a birthday cake. The caption reads: "Help Us give OMB Director & Project 2025 author Russell Vought the birthday he deserves." The bottom of the photo has a link to impeachvought.com

Help NIH staff give OMB Director & Project 2025 author Russell Vought the birthday he deserves.

actionnetwork.org/forms/civil-...

The Institute for Humane Studies, which has historically been tied to Charles Koch, has created this “liberalism” project.

Not a single person of color in its leadership.

Also noting that Lewis Powell was later appointed to the Supreme Court by Nixon. SCOTUS has been a reactionary institution for decades

#science

Trump NIH is doing bad stuff

This administration is committing Watergate level crimes multiple times per week—and those are the ones we know about. It’s crazy to think about what else will come out after.

It’s absolutely essential these criminals are held responsible for their crimes. We must end elite impunity.

🫴🫴

How Congress can restore the independence of US science Members must go beyond reinstating US government research spending and re-establish decentralized governance at the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.

The most impt change at #NIH and to US science this year is bigger than grant cancellations— it’s how the agency is governed.

For 75 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control. That’s changed this year. New piece from me and @nataliebaviles.bsky.social in @nature.com
🧪

This is such a critical point, and it’s something I’ve tried to highlight in my reporting.

The right-wing groups and operatives who politicized COVID have also been pushing anti-trans shit. Moms for Liberty is a classic example.

It’s helped create new GOP voters/activists.

Great to see such a large crowd out today! #standupforscience

Perhaps an early (bad) sign of what is to come:

Vinay Prasad, who helped lead a campaign against lifesaving mRNA vaccines at FDA, is being welcomed back to the University of California San Francisco, where he was prior to joining the Trump administration.

All of that, yes.

However, stay vigilant!

There is great reason to worry about the Trumpers interfering with NIH peer review.

That said, we have heard that these particular changes were planned from inside CSR for a while as part of the ENQUIRE process.

Same is true in science and for medical cures

‘We want to rebuild trust’: fired CDC workers form group to combat Trump’s war on science Former employees stepped up to create the National Public Health Coalition to advocate for public health after Trump’s cuts to the agency

Proud of our CDC colleagues at National Public Health Coalition. @firedbutfighting.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

And all the current & former federal workers who are standing up and fighting for a better future for all of us. @27unihted.bsky.social @altnih4science.bsky.social

The MAHA Meltdown Why Donald Trump may rue the day he pissed off the MAHA moms.

NEW at @thebulwark.com

Trump pissed off a big chunk of MAHA last week

I wrote about how -- and why it's important (1/x)

www.thebulwark.com/p/maha-meltd...