Katharine O'Moore-Klopf, ELS<p>On August 7, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> signed an <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/executive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>executive</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/order" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>order</span></a> tightening control of the <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/federal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>federal</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/grant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>grant</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/funding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>funding</span></a> process, requiring <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/political" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>political</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/appointees" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>appointees</span></a> to sign off on each grant. The order also instructs agencies to formalize the ability to cancel awarded grants at any time if they're considered to "no longer advance agency priorities." Because politicians are experts on <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/research" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>research</span></a>, right? Wrong! <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/08/new-executive-order-puts-all-grants-under-political-control/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">arstechnica.com/science/2025/0</span><span class="invisible">8/new-executive-order-puts-all-grants-under-political-control/</span></a></p>