"The biggest news story in science in Washington this year was [Robert F. Kennedy] Jr. He took the helm of [the Department of Health and Human Services] and has reshaped [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], [the Food and Drug Administration], the other agencies under his purviewfired a whole bunch of people, has basically upended the way business is done at a lot of those agenciesand injected his views on science, vaccines, medicine as a whole"
"So 2025 has shaped science in Washington in a big way because it shattered the social compact between scientists and the federal government that's existed since World War II. Basically, they've shown here in D.C. that they can't be trusted when it comes to the funding that they've promised scientists. The deal was: You do the science, you decide on the merits of the science, we'll provide the funding, and the whole country will reap the benefits of it"
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assumed leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services and reshaped agencies including the CDC and FDA, removing many employees and altering operations. His actions injected personal views on science, vaccines, and medicine into national conversations. The 2025 changes fractured the longstanding social compact between scientists and the federal government established since World War II. Trust eroded around promised research funding, undermining the prior understanding that scientists would evaluate research on merit while government provided stable support. The administration promotes patronage, aims to curb university power through funding, and frames scientists as a political constituency.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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