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Project 2025: Trump-Style Blueprint Threatens U.S. Scientific Infrastructure

  //science-technology.news-articles.net/content/2 .. int-threatens-u-s-scientific-infrastructure.html
  Published in Science and Technology on Wednesday, November 19th 2025 at 17:39 GMT by Scientific American

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Project 2025: How a Trump‑style Presidency Could Undermine the Scientific Enterprise

When President Donald J. Trump left office in January 2021, a host of his most ardent supporters had already begun sketching out a blueprint for a future administration. That plan – publicly released as Project 2025 – is a sweeping policy brief that lays out a systematic assault on the United States’ scientific infrastructure. The document, distributed by a coalition of conservative think‑tanks and industry‑friendly groups, spells out a vision in which federal science is restructured, research funding slashed, and regulation rolled back to the point where many of the country’s most critical scientific institutions would be left in crisis.

1. The Core of Project 2025

The brief’s opening sections present a “four‑step strategy” that Trump’s supporters believe will make the U.S. a “leader in a new era of science and technology.” The steps are:

1. Eliminate federal science staff: The plan calls for removing “redundant” scientists from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science. By reducing the number of full‑time researchers, the authors argue that agencies will be forced to operate in a “lean” environment that emphasizes industry collaboration over basic research.

2. Slash budgets: Project 2025 proposes a 20 % cut in the NSF’s annual budget over the next decade, and a 15 % cut in the NIH’s budget, arguing that these funds are “wasted on projects with little real-world impact.” In addition, the plan advocates a 30 % reduction in the DOE’s research budget, with particular emphasis on cutting climate‑related work.

3. Revoke science‑based regulations: The brief lists a series of environmental statutes that the authors deem “unnecessary” or “over‑restrictive,” including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. They propose a “scientist‑in‑the‑room” approach, in which scientists—who they claim are “biased”—would have a greater say in the enforcement of these laws.

4. Privatize research: Finally, Project 2025 argues that “private sector funding” should replace government support for basic research. The authors point to the “successes” of industry‑led innovation in the 1990s as evidence that private investment can drive progress without the bureaucratic overhead of federal agencies.

The brief’s rhetoric is unambiguously political. It frames science as a “political tool” that can be “turned to serve the interests of a particular party” and warns that “science can become a weapon against the public good.” The authors cite a handful of examples, including the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its attempts to undermine climate science in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to support their claims.

2. Threats to Climate Science

The most chilling part of Project 2025 concerns climate science. Trump’s past policy decisions—such as the “America First” stance that effectively suspended the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, and the “Clean Power Plan” repeal—have already weakened the nation’s environmental regulatory framework. Project 2025 proposes a complete overhaul of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) data, a roll‑back of federal carbon‑budget rules, and the removal of climate‑science funding from the DOE.

The brief cites an internal EPA report that supposedly found “overly complex” greenhouse‑gas regulations, but the document offers no citations. Independent scientists have noted that these claims are contradicted by peer‑reviewed research that demonstrates the real-world impacts of carbon‑emissions reductions. The brief’s authors also claim that the “climate‑science community” is “biased” and “overly political,” a narrative that echoes long‑standing conspiracies about “science versus politics.”

3. Implications for NASA, NIH, and NSF

Project 2025’s impact would not be limited to climate science. The brief also lays out a plan to dismantle NASA’s planetary science budget, reduce the agency’s workforce by 25 %, and cut the Space Launch System program. The authors argue that “the space program is a wasteful use of taxpayer money” and that private companies such as SpaceX should shoulder the burden of space exploration.

For the NIH, Project 2025 suggests eliminating “redundant” research programs, especially those that study long‑term diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This would directly impact ongoing efforts to secure new therapeutics for these conditions, jeopardizing decades of research that rely on sustained funding. The brief also proposes removing the “Human Genome Project” from its funding agenda, which would hamper future advances in precision medicine.

The NSF would suffer the most severe cuts. The agency’s core mandate is to support “basic research” across all scientific disciplines. A 20 % budget cut would reduce grant opportunities for early‑career scientists and potentially collapse entire research initiatives in fields ranging from quantum physics to social sciences. The brief also calls for a restructuring of NSF’s peer‑review process to give more weight to industry sponsorship, a move that many scientists fear would compromise research integrity.

4. Industry Influence and the “Science‑in‑the‑Room” Paradigm

Project 2025 is heavily funded by corporate donors that have a vested interest in deregulation. The brief cites “industry leaders” who have repeatedly expressed frustration over regulatory constraints that limit the development of new products. By giving scientists a more prominent role in decision‑making, the authors claim that “science will be better used for the public good.” Critics point out that this “science‑in‑the‑room” approach actually amplifies corporate interests because scientists, especially those in high‑profile industries, often receive significant sponsorship from the same companies that would benefit from regulatory rollbacks.

The brief’s reliance on “white‑paper” style arguments without peer‑reviewed data has drawn criticism from the scientific community. Many researchers argue that policy decisions should be informed by rigorous data, not ideological rhetoric. The lack of citations in the Project 2025 document has led to calls for greater transparency in policy drafting.

5. The Wider Implications for U.S. Scientific Leadership

If the political agenda outlined in Project 2025 were to become reality, the United States would face a cascade of setbacks across the scientific spectrum. From the erosion of climate science and the potential rollback of environmental protections, to the dismantling of NASA’s space program and the curtailment of NIH research, the country’s position as a global leader in science and technology would be severely undermined.

The Scientific American article underscores that the stakes are not merely theoretical. The Trump administration’s past policy actions have already weakened key scientific institutions, and Project 2025 appears to formalize a strategy that could accelerate those losses. The brief’s rhetoric—praising deregulation and private-sector dominance—ignores the fact that many scientific breakthroughs, from the Human Genome Project to the recent advances in mRNA vaccine technology, relied heavily on federal funding and collaboration.

In conclusion, Project 2025 is a cautionary document that reveals how political ideology can threaten the integrity, funding, and future of U.S. science. It is a reminder that science is not a neutral, apolitical endeavor; it is a public service that depends on stable funding, transparent governance, and evidence‑based policy. The article’s call to action is clear: scientists, policymakers, and the public must engage with this plan, scrutinize its proposals, and defend the institutions that support the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of all.