Scientists protest Trump’s funding cuts

At least 1,000 protesters turned out in San Francisco, California for a “Stand Up For Science” rally to demonstrate against funding cuts and freezes by the Trump administration, calling the cuts “gut wrenching” and “absolutely horrible.”

Protesters chanted slogans against President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s been leading Trump’s budget cutting efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and held homemade signs as speakers took the stage to share their stories.

“The DOGE chainsaw is going to affect us all,” said Debra Fischer, a professor emeritus of astronomy “It’s going to defund life-saving research, it’s going to threaten our economy, it’s going to impede innovation, and it’s going to kneecap an entire generation of scientific talent.”

Under Trump’s administration, the United States has withdrawn from the board of the U.N.'s hard-negotiated climate damage fund, dedicated to helping poor and vulnerable nations cope with climate change-fueled disasters.

Since taking office in January, Trump has halted the participation of U.S. scientists in global climate assessments, withdrawn from funding deals to help nations reduce coal use, and again taken the country out of the Paris climate agreement.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency that provides the U.S. government's weather forecasts, began firing more than 800 workers on February 27, according to congressional sources.

Workers at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which supports agricultural science and technology research, and the Economic Research Service, which produces reports and data on the farm economy, have also been fired, sources said.