[jkestner]

This should feel personal to a lot of us. I have hopes of applying to the Small Business Innovation Research fund (https://seedfund.nsf.gov), a program that gives small companies a good chunk of money without taking equity, in order to encourage development of technologies deemed of national importance. I’d be curious if anyone here has tried applying in the last 18 months.

[epistasis]

I was helping some people working on their phase I SBIR throughout the first year of Trump, and they often didn't know who to report to, as the firings were so relentless and pointless and completely disorganized. They got the highest possible rating upon completion, but have not been able to apply for Phase 2, so the project is effectively dead as they pursued other opportunities.

It's hard to imaging a more wasteful and destructive set of actions over the past year, except just shutting it all down. Money was still spent, less than usual, but in a way that ensured it was squandered, and that seeds that were planted could not grow.

However, it was apparently reauthorized on April 14, as my NIH newsletter this week linked to this April 21 announcement that SBIRs and STTRs are back!

https://grants.nih.gov/news-events/nih-extramural-nexus-news...

[trinsic2]

Im not getting how trump can fire anyone? Does he have the authority to do that?

[epistasis]

The US government is not currently in a state of following the law or constitution. People get fired, and if authority was not there, a lawsuit 9-18 months later might rectify it, and in the meantime the fired employee has moved on. DOGE cuts were extreme, capricious, and the only rhyme or reason was to try to hyperpoliticize the science to meet what people were guessing that Trump would want. On the grant side, they cut grants in an explictly racist way, according to a Reagan-appointed Republican judge that ruled aganist them way back in June of 2025; what was the remedy? Merely to reinstate the grants.

Who is going to stop a lawless Trump administration? Eventually the courts, at least at the lower levers. The Supreme Court is hyper political and continue making politically-driven rewriting of law, at least as much as the public lets them. Congress has completely abdicated their constitutionally mandated roles, such as being in charge of taxation and tariffs. The government has been completely taken over by a single party, and that party is burning the Constitution and its principles.

As for another example of gross mismanagment, of many many many more I could go on about, the National Cancer Institute's review board was completely disbanded, and put under the National Science Foundation where reviewers have less cancer experience, for example. To a pointy-haired-boss, that might sound like a cost savings measure but it's still the same cost, you just have less experienced people doing reviews.

All this is happening and getting reported on, but it doesn't get attention because every day is pure chaos filled with outrageous violations of what used to be normal activity in the government. And its all covered up by the most popular mainstream news sources, and there's a large body of the US population that has been completely brainwashed and literally refuses to accept any criticism of the Trump administration, outright rejected facts because it hurts their feelings.

[trinsic2]

I'm still not quite sure how anybody is required to follow an order of someone that doesn't have authority to do what they're doing.

What happens if you refuse to be let go by someone that doesn't have authority?

[Tadpole9181]

You're arrested for trespassing. Remember, the president also effectively controls the security team, the DoJ and the military. It's just a king again, and you're asking the sane question:

"Why would anyone follow the mad, old king?"

And the answer is around the same:

"Because he will hurt you."

[trinsic2]

> You're arrested for trespassing

By who? and on what grounds?

The only people that have authority to fire are the people that are heads of that institution.

The president has no connection to this institution. He does not have any power in this context. His power stops at the federal level and even then his power is limited. Nobody has to abide by his orders. Yet, there are plenty of people doing so. Im not understanding why.

If he doesn't have authority to do what he is doing, nobody has to follow any of his actions. In fact I think there is an obligation not to follow the orders of a criminal.

[adjejmxbdjdn]

They flip a bit in the DB that makes you an ex exmployee and your badge doesn’t work, you can’t login to systems, your emails don’t work, etc.

It’s not that hard.

To prevent it, someone in IT would have to actively prevent bosses from having those kind of admin privileges which in itself would be illegal.

[trinsic2]

Who would do that? and by what authority?

[epistasis]

Look at the body cam footage of the armed takeover of the Institute of Peace on youtube, or here's a politico article:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/doge-institute-peac...

Or Musk "deputizing" his private security guards to be federal agents for his purposes:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

A new department head gets installed, DOGE selects people to fire, has complete access to IT etc.

What's not to understand? The government was completely in the control of Trump and DOGE. What type of "authority" do you think did not exist? This is the standard authoritarian playbook that's played out many times over the world over the past century, it's not hard to understand.

[trinsic2]

Thats a federal institution. Is this institution federal?

Edit: thanks for the links. You can tell they are operating without authority. I had been totally unaware of this

[juniperus]

I'm in academia, so NSF cuts are very misguided in my view, and hopefully will be reversed in the next administration. But the first two sentences of your post immediately contradict one another. You say America is in a state of lawlessness, and then immediately describe the American legal system. So that's exactly what following the law in America has always meant. America is a common law country, not a civil law country... Litigation and court precedent is how laws are tested and affirmed in common law countries, unlike civil law countries. So that legal system isn't lawlessness, its the way law works in common law countries, which America is one of the few not using the Napoleonic code.

[xethos]

War can only legally be declared by Congress. America is currently at war with Iran. Is the current war legal?

I would say no. That doesn't mean it's not happening, just that the law was ignored.

[juniperus]

well that specific scenario is its own mess of competing authorities. Theoretically, the president is commander in chief, so he controls the armed forces. But congress has the authority to make a declaration of war. But the president as commander in chief can direct troops for national security or other purposes. Military action can happen without a war being declared. It becomes a bit of a game of semantics because the argument is that war is different than military action, then the legal interpretations of words and whatnot becomes the focus. Courts tend to not really go too deep into this issue, I suppose. It's something of a gray area. So the counterpoint is that the law wasn't ignored, it was interpreted differently, because of this concept that military action isn't necessarily war. Courts usually will spell out these interpretations more clearly and refine the law, but when it comes to war, I think they don't want to litigate that too quickly.

[trinsic2]

Im not quite sure what you are getting at. Its true we are a common law country, but then what? Finish your thought.

[OxO4]

People like you sanewashing the actions of this admin are a major part of the problem.

Even if this were how the system was designed, it is time to acknowledge that it is fundamentally broken and needs change. It is mind boggling that the response to these issues amounts to WONTFIX.

[trinsic2]

The change starts with us not follow the orders and actions of a criminal.

[gte525u]

SBIRs have been mucked up since last fall. The program lapsed and it just got reauthorized for certain departments. Without that reauth only those who had phase 1's could apply for phase 2's.

[epistasis]

Hey got any details about how to apply for a phase 2 if you had a successful phase 1? I know a group that would be very interested...

[gte525u]

It depends - some agencies you can apply directly without doing a phase 1. Others you need talk to the TPOC of the Phase 1 to find out the process or you have to be invited.

In the current environment - I would contact the TPOC - it could just be stuck in limbo.

[epistasis]

many thanks!

[2ndorderthought]

I know several people who have. They cannot even get awarded funds right now. All funding is being directed to grant mills.

[cozzyd]

some of us are also scientists who hold NSF grants (and hope to continue to hold them...) :)