The Death of Science

From Academy Health (the academic society for health services researchers) comes a very depressing post. We already know that the Dump administration has rescinded research grants to study health care and health risks for gay people, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and other subhumans. But now they're making it official that they will only fund science that conforms to their ideology:

 

The Office of Management and Budget published a sweeping proposed rule on May 29, 2026, that would fundamentally reshape how the federal government funds research, public health programs, and other evidence-based work. . . . The rule . . . places political appointees between scientists and the work they do on behalf of the public. It rewrites the terms under which federally funded research can operate, in ways that would undermine the independence, integrity, and practical functioning of the health services research enterprise. 

The most alarming provision establishes a new pre-issuance review process that requires senior political appointees, not scientific reviewers, to sign off on grants before they are awarded. The rule is explicit that these reviews must ensure proposals are consistent with "Federal agency priorities" and "the President's policy priorities." Peer review, which has governed the allocation of federal research funding for decades, is reduced to an advisory function. The rule states plainly that it "does not replace agency discretion." 

 

As you may know, Stalin required science to conform to Communist ideology. One result was that scientists were required to share the lunatic beliefs of Trofim Lysenko, who used his authority to discredit, fire and even imprison scientists who dissented. Lysenko rejected Mendelian genetics and the theory of evolution by mutation and natural selection, and instead claimed that acquired characteristics could be inherited. E.g., giraffes developed long necks by reaching for high branches, their offspring inherited the stretched necks, and stretched them even further, generation after generation. 

 

A consequence was that Soviet agronomists could not develop better strains of crops and livestock, because they could not use selective breeding, so Soviet agricultural yields were impaired until after Stalin's death. The lunatic RFK Jr. is already committing the mass murder of American children by  persuading their parents not to have them vaccinated, and as I say much biomedical and health services research has already been halted, but at least what research is being done in universities continues to be governed by peer review and sound scientific standards. That will no longer be the case.