{"id":367033,"date":"2025-02-20T18:25:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367033"},"modified":"2025-02-20T18:25:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:25:41","slug":"american-association-for-the-advancement-of-science-trump-tracker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367033","title":{"rendered":"American Association for the Advancement of Science \u201cTrump Tracker\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest \u201cHeck yeah, I voted for this! And it\u2019s better than I expected!\u201d by David Middleton<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ScienceInsider Science and Policy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump Tracker<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Latest on firings: \u201c\u201cIt\u2019s bad, but I\u2019m not gonna lay down and roll over.\u201d<\/strong>
13 Feb 2025 By Science News Staff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you a federal scientist who took the recent buyout or have been fired? Contact us<\/a>. Other story tips welcome.
Latest story: \u201cIf you are going to fire us, let us know.\u201d\u2013National Science Foundation union<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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17 Feb 2025, 2:50 PM ET<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NSF union asks for information on pending dismissals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In anticipation of mass firings this week, the union representing more than 1000 employees at the National Science Foundation (NSF) today asked the agency to explain how it is implementing the Trump\u2019s administration order to shrink the federal workforce by dismissing those designated as probationary employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPut us out of our agony,\u201d says one NSF employee who received the 17 February letter sent by Local 3403 of the American Federation of Government Employees to NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. \u201cIf you are going to fire us, let us know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter, shared with Science<\/em>, asks Panchanathan for the criteria the agency used to draw up a pool of those eligible to be fired under a 20 January memo<\/a> from the White House Office of Personnel Management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[\u2026]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAAS of A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a single criterion for firing \u201cprobationary employees\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIf you\u2019re not the right person for the job, the employer can fire you at any point during the probationary period.\u201d\u00a0USAJOBS.gov<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a probationary employee<\/a>, you can be fired \u201cat any point during the probationary period.\u201d That\u2019s how probationary employment works. If your job has been eliminated, you are no longer \u201cthe right person for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let\u2019s get back to the \u201cTrump Tracker\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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14 Feb 2025, 6:30 PM ET<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Interior Department, layoffs shock new scientists hoping for a secure career of service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As the Trump administration unleashed a wave of firing today across U.S. research agencies, targeting mainly probationary workers, ScienceInsider<\/em> spoke with two scientists at agencies in the U.S. Department of the Interior who are losing their jobs. A postdoc who started a position at the U.S. Geological Survey last year got a call from their center director today, telling them that they would be laid off by the end of the day. \u201cHe broke the news and wanted to do it himself,\u201d they say. The ecologist says it was a shock, but not completely unexpected. They also consider themselves relatively lucky, because their spouse is employed and they didn\u2019t have to relocate for their postdoc. \u201cI\u2019m aware of some others who moved cross-country and started positions only to have just gotten the news. \u2026 It\u2019s really hard.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAAS of A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

One would think that the folks at the American Association for the Advancement of Science of America would be able to grasp the phrase \u201cprobationary workers.\u201d And why the hell is the U.S. Geological<\/em><\/strong> Survey employing PhD ECOLOGISTS<\/em><\/strong>? Let\u2019s ask Google AI:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Looks like another job for the DOGE boys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Why were hundreds of millions of TAXPYERS\u2019 dollars being spent on \u201ceducation research\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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14 Feb 2025, 2:30 PM ET<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halted contracts threaten education research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers warn that the sudden cancellation this week of hundreds of millions of dollars of government contracts to collect information on the state of U.S. education will blind the government to important trends from preschool to college and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAAS of A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of \u201chundreds of millions of dollars of government contracts to collect information on the state of U.S. education\u201d? Seriously? We know all we need to know about the \u201cthe state of U.S. education.\u201d It\u2019s barely average in science and\u00a0math<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Science literacy: 15-yr old students.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Math literacy: 15-yr old students.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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5200<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Estimated number of probationary workers at NIH, CDC, FDA and other Health and Human Services agencies who were scheduled to receive termination notices<\/a> from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAAS of A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Repeat after me: \u201cprobationary workers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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13 Feb 2025, 9:30 AM ET<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists want to kick Musk out of Royal Society<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Billionaire Elon Musk has been a lightning rod for criticism in the United States for anti-DEI posts on his social media platform X and his DOGE work for President Donald Trump, which may end up gutting U.S. science agencies and has disrupted foreign aid for global clinical research. But his actions also aren\u2019t playing well across the pond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[\u2026]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAAS of A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Right\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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