The Principled Investigator - January 30, 2026
As Americans this has been another tough week. It has been disturbing to follow the events in Minnesota and the consequences of the ICE invasion of that state. Scientific freedom isn’t possible unless all people are free.
We have less science news to report this week than usual, as the Nation’s attention has been focused on other events. Additionally, because the budget for HHS/NIH was part of a package that included funding for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, passage has been delayed. As of this writing, Senate Democrats and Republicans negotiated and passed a version of the budget that would fund all agencies and programs while postponing a vote on the DHS/ICE budget. The amended budget must now return to the House for reapproval on Monday; until this version passes the government will enter a partial shutdown of programs whose budgets are not yet passed, including NIH. It remains to be seen whether the NIH budget will be a victim of the unconscionable actions of ICE.
NIH (policy & budget)
As we reported last week, the FY2026 NIH budget has been largely preserved in the most recent version of the budget bill, but passage remains uncertain as it goes back to the House on Monday with the DHS/ICE portion removed.
More than 10,000 government STEM PhD employees were lost last year. Collectively they had over 100,000 years of federal work experience and expertise.
A lot of uncertainty still remains over the filling of the 15 open Director positions within NIH. The current budget bill includes language directing NIH to utilize search committees with outside experts, and the recently introduced “Follow the Science Act” includes measures to limit political appointees at NIH, but it is unclear if those will pass, or if the guidance will be followed if they do. We are keeping a close eye on the replacement of Institute Directors as a potential indicator of the politicization of NIH.
Academic Free Speech
The University of North Carolina (UNC) is working on a new definition of academic freedom that could be a useful step to protect faculty. However, this current version was not developed through shared governance and language about limitations was dramatically increased over the holidays without full faculty input, so the faculty still have concerns.
https://ncnewsline.com/2026/
01/29/unc-system-moves-to- define-academic-freedom/
Institutional Targets & Their Responses
For some good news, the education department is dropping their appeal of a lawsuit about DEI at universities. For now at least, DEI is still a part of free speech, and the government may not be able to target universities because of their DEI policies.
https://apnews.com/article/
dei-education-department- lawsuit-appeal- ad150d5ab7747b9c782bc381890e5c 8f
International Scholars & Trainees
Many H-1B visa holders need to get their visa stamped in India before they can return to the US. Appointment dates for those stamps have been delayed into 2027. This is stranding some visa holders outside the US.
Legislation & Calls to Action
Join Forces!
Stand Up for Science is organizing a Rally to Take Back Science in Washington DC on March 7th. This is the next iteration of the March for Science, so mark your calendars. There may be local events beyond the one in DC, so get involved and make your voice heard.
https://www.standupforscience.
Speak Up!
Let your elected officials know: RFK has got to go! Contact them directly or sign and share the petition from Stand Up for Science:
Educate Your Friends!
Share one thing that you learned from this digest with at least one of your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe!
To stay up to date on action items and resources to defend science, we recommend the following organizations:
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
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