The longstanding cooperative relationship between the U.S. government and the scientific community has fractured under the Trump administration, which has imposed significant restrictions on research funding, communication and data accessibility.

Scientific agencies, once largely autonomous, now face political interference, signaling a shift in how science is conducted and controlled, with the potential to stifle research in critical areas such as public health, climate science and medical advancements.

While certain fields like artificial intelligence and space exploration may continue to receive support, the broader research enterprise is at risk of becoming politicized, with long-term consequences for public health, innovation and global scientific standing.

Scientific expertise itself is now being billed as a political liability, which opens the door to “a populist approach to what counts as valid scientific knowledge,” says University Professor Amy Fairchild.

Read more in The Atlantic article, “The Erasing of American Science.”