Last week, the Trump administration released its budget blueprint: "American First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again". Among the prosposals is a $54 billion increase to the defense budget and dramatic decreases for other agencies including the EPA, HUD, NOAA, and the State Department.

Agencies to be eliminated include the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Chemical Safety Board, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the Legal Services Corporation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the United States Institute of Peace, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Cuts to many areas of scientific research have also been recommended.

Today, President Reif wrote a letter to the MIT community stating that, "such a budget would damage the nation’s position as a global leader in science and innovation....America's strength in science and engineering is central to America's strength, period. It's how we keep the nation safe, drive innovation, build infrastructure, power and connect our modern society, restore the environment, create new industries, feed our people, heal the sick – and understand the universe.....If you share these views, I encourage you to help your friends, your family, your neighbors, your elected representatives and the rest of the nation understand why."

On April 22, there will be rallies across the nation as part of the March for Science--the main march and rally taking place in Washington, DC. FossilFreeMIT is fully engaged in these actions and is hosting a meetup here at MIT before setting out for the Boston Common rally. For more information and to sign up, click here.  This is one of many ways to share your views and tell the world that science matters.