A funding freeze that started on Jan. 21 by President Donald Trump has raised concerns within the academic and scientific communities across the country.
The federal loan and grant freeze has stirred up a lot of confusion with government officials causing panic leaving government agencies without guaranteed funding.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer spoke about the freeze at a Senate meeting stating his perception on the act.
“This decision is lawless, destructive, cruel. Its American families that are going to suffer most.” Schumer said in an article released by Reuters.
The grant and loan programs most affected by the federal freeze are cancer treatment research and trials and college and medical research.
“Politicizing this nonpartisan cause imperils every American and impedes doctors and scientists fighting to save lives,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. said according to CT Insider.
The Connecticut Ivy League, Yale University found itself in the center of the freeze.
During the 2024 fiscal year, $889 million was received from the federal government for many different research programs at Yale, as reported by The Yale Daily News
A lot of CT research grants are also affected by this, with the National Institutes of Health’s research grant application deadline on Feb. 5.
Yale and UConn Students who rely on federal funding to pursue and continue their research are unable to apply to receive it because of the freeze.
Universities such as Yale, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Arizona State and Michigan State depend on these grants to fund projects that contribute to advancements in healthcare and technology.
The loss of this funding for ongoing studies may come to a halt, affecting students, professors and scientists across the country.
Yale Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Diane Krause, commented on the freeze and its effect on the current research opportunities at Yale.
“I would guess that all as yet unawarded applications for diversity funding will not be funded even if the grants received excellent scores and were slated for funding in 2025,”(Klancko, WHUS News) Krause said.
Krause’s reaction came after Trump ended the DEI programs and initiatives.
2,600 grant programs will be investigated and revaluated to see if they align with the administration’s policies including ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts and the Green New Deal.
The Trump administration’s decision to move away from DEI stems from its belief that DEI is a “public waste and shameful discrimination.”
The Green New Deal is a proposal to “call for public policy to address climate change by transforming our energy system to 100 percent renewable energy and creating 20 million jobs needed to solve the climate crisis,” according to statements made my Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Trumps stance towards climate change has not changed since he took office eight years ago, which is why he cut funding to the Green New Deal days into his term.
With the administration’s shift in priorities, funding for projects aimed at sustainability and reducing carbon emissions may be at risk.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. has been advocating against the freeze, urging the administration to reconsider its stance on research funding.
Blumenthal, Murphy and Yale’s Maurie McInnis are calling for immediate action to address the potential funding shortfall.
“Yale faculty, staff, and students should continue federally funded work except for cases where the university has received specific stop-work orders,” McInnis said in response to Yale’s operations following the freeze. “In the meantime, we should all be mindful of the impact of university spending in light of these uncertainties.”
Trump and the White House clarified saying it would not impact Social Security, Medicare, food aid and welfare programs, farmers, small businesses and rental assistance.
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