Employees at the beleaguered US National Science Foundation (NSF), which backs fundamental research, were prepared to follow in the footsteps of personnel from two other scientific agencies and issue a statement expressing concern over troubling developments during the Trump administration. However, that initiative has been postponed indefinitely. The Alexandria Declaration, named after the agency’s location in Virginia, was anticipated to be released on 14 July but is currently on ‘indefinite hold’, according to Stand Up for Science, which is coordinating the initiative. A leaked draft of the NSF document reflects similar worries to those voiced by staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In early June, several hundred current and past NIH employees endorsed the Bethesda Declaration, which criticized the leadership of director Jay Bhattacharya, who assumed command of the agency in April. Alan Leshner, the former long-standing head of the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse and previous chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was among the signatories. Chemistry Nobel laureates also lent their names to the letter, including University of California, Berkeley biochemist Jennifer Doudna, Stanford University’s biorthogonal chemistry innovator Carolyn Bertozzi, and University of Washington biochemist and protein designer David Baker.
A draft of the NIH document, which was reportedly supported by the NIH Fellows United union, seemingly outlined several issues including the Trump administration’s halt on high-quality, peer-reviewed grants and contracts at the agency, dismissal of essential NIH personnel, termination of key international research partnerships, and efforts to implement a blanket 15% cap on indirect costs that the NIH provides to grantees for essential facilities and administrative expenses, which courts have temporarily suspended pending an agency appeal. Bhattacharya countered that the Bethesda Declaration contains ‘some fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions NIH has taken in recent months’.
Shortly thereafter, current and former EPA employees released their own Declaration of Dissent, which pointed out issues with the leadership of Trump-appointed administrator, Lee Zeldin. Their concerns encompassed, among other matters, the EPA’s repeal or re-evaluation of health-oriented regulatory standards such as drinking water limits for four per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, dismantling its Office of Research and Development, which sustains studies that underpin the scientific foundation for the agency’s rulemaking and other critical decision-making processes, and targeting EPA probationary staff.
In reaction, Zeldin announced a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards this criticism and reportedly placed 139 of the agency’s personnel who signed the document on administrative leave, pending an investigation. Earlier this month, a union representing over 8000 EPA employees nationwide urged Zeldin to reinstate those workers.