On Jan. 27, the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget released a memorandum freezing all federal agency funding and operations. Taking effect the following day, the unprecedented order created confusion and dysfunction within all federal agencies and adjacent sectors.
Oregon State University is one of only two universities in the United States with land, sea, space and sun grant designations, and received just under $370 million in federal research grant funding from numerous agencies in fiscal year 2023-2024.
Not only do these grants make valuable scientific research and discovery possible, they also provide job opportunities and career paths for students and scientists.
Zoe Chavis, a master’s degree student in biological and ecological engineering at OSU, said that uncertainty about the future of federally-funded research programs has led her and some of her peers to seek jobs in the private sector.
“It made more sense for me to pursue a consulting engineering job because I was shielded a bit more from the impacts of the federal spending cuts,” Chavis said (1:00). “I have other friends in my program who have set deadlines for themselves. … If they can’t find (jobs) in a public research or science position that’s based on federal funding, (they’re) going to have to rely on a less desirable job, but a more steady one.” (1:50)
Following the funding freeze, Rob Odom, vice president of University Relations and Marketing, sent an email to students addressing questions and concerns.
“The university has proceeded thoughtfully and deliberately in its response to recent executive orders and federal actions while remaining true to Oregon State University’s mission, values and commitments,” Odom stated in his email. “As Oregon’s preeminent research university, OSU is impacted by even a temporary pause on awards and disbursements that fund research of the utmost importance to Oregon, the nation and the world.”
Immediately following the freeze, U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island imposed a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, blocking the White House’s action and citing the Office of Management and Budget’s lack of legal authority.
“No federal law would authorize the executive’s unilateral action here,” McConnell stated in his restraining order.
“Oregon State University has joined this effort by filing a declaration in support of the State of Oregon, 21 other states and the District of Columbia as plaintiffs in their motion for a preliminary injunction on the proposed federal funding freeze,” Odom stated.
While the specific memo freezing federal grants and assistance was swiftly rescinded following Judge McConnell’s restraining order, the Trump administration has continued its assault against federal agencies that provide funding to research institutions, announcing its legally dubious intent to abolish the Department of Education, with further details expected to be forthcoming this month.
In an unprecedented move, billionaire and a recent supporter of Trump, Elon Musk, has deployed U.S. Department of Government Efficiency staffers to tamper with the Department of Education’s digital backend, harvesting the personal and financial information of more than 42 million citizens and feeding sensitive department data into artificial intelligence programs.
OSU received $13 million from the Department of Education in fiscal year 2023-2024.
The National Institutes of Health, a subsidiary of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, supporting more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 research institutions.
OSU received over $54 million in federal research funding from DHHS in fiscal year 2023-2024.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the newly confirmed DHHS secretary, has long questioned the efficacy of vaccines and the causes of infectious diseases like AIDS. Kennedy has signalled his intent to comprehensively transform the functions and priorities of the NIH, including the deprioritization of research of infectious diseases. This change in policy would put several OSU research programs and labs at risk.
Further, the NIH has announced sweeping cuts in funding for indirect costs, limiting them to 15% — just over half of the current average of 27-28% for NIH grants. Funds allocated for indirect costs pay for the infrastructure and staff of research facilities. Electricity bills, equipment, building maintenance costs, and even payments for janitorial services and other support staff are included in indirect costs.
With this strict limitation on indirect costs, labs and other biomedical research facilities will be forced to operate under inefficient and substandard conditions, with inadequate equipment. Programs with high proportions of indirect costs will no longer be possible with a 15% cap.
Legal challenges led by 22 states, major research institutions, and Massachusetts District Court Judge Angel Kelley have temporarily suspended the NIH’s implementation of this policy, with hearings scheduled for this Friday.
“The university continues to gather information and assess the potential impacts of federal actions as they occur,” Odom said. “Consistent with the university’s mission, we will continue to incorporate the diversity of experiences and perspectives across the university as we reconcile the potential impacts of executive actions, federal policies and legislation with OSU’s values, policies and Oregon law.”
