With U.S. funding for science at risk, a longtime advocate sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’
For most of Mary Woolley’s career, science and politics have existed harmoniously. On only a few occasions have they become misaligned, said Woolley, who has served as president and CEO of the research advocacy group Research!America since 1990.
Those occasions include a movement to slash the budget of the National Institutes of Health in the mid-1990s, a wave of skepticism of science during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Trump administration’s current slashing of research funding.
“In this particular Congress and this administration, there has been vilification of some parts of science,” Woolley said. “Science meets politics has really been elevated around issues that have nothing to do with making people healthier and more secure — but have more to do with, ‘If I’m for it, then you’re going to be against it. If I’m a Republican and for something, then you’re a Democrat and you’re going to be against it, no matter what it is’ and vice versa. That kind of political battling is not good for anyone.”
“Science is there to advance the public’s goals,” she added.
Science advocates say the Trump administration’s proposed cuts for next year would be catastrophic, but there are some early signs that Congress might rebuff them. Two weeks ago, a Senate committee endorsed a $400 million increase to the NIH budget and rejected the administration’s proposal to consolidate the agency’s 27 institutes and centers into just eight.
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