How Trump Plans to Corrupt American Science
Russell Vought, a key architect of Project 2025 and head of the OMB, is proposing a radical shift in how the federal government distributes over $1 trillion in annual grants. Thom Hartmann explains how this plan would replace non-partisan experts and peer-review panels with political appointees, effectively institutionalizing a modern "spoils system." Under this new policy, everything from scientific research and university grants to infrastructure projects and the arts would be filtered through a single lens: "Is this what the administration wants?" Thom dives into the history of the spoils system, from its origins under Andrew Jackson to the assassination of President Garfield that led to the Pendleton Civil Service Act. Discover how this move threatens to dismantle a century of professional civil service and replace it with a system of ideological screening and cronyism. Video Chapters 00:00 Project 2025 and the $1 Trillion Grant Takeover 01:14 Replacing Scientists with Political Appointees 02:20 Institutionalizing Corruption: The PEER Report 03:10 Frozen Research: The Attack on the National Science Foundation 04:02 History of the Spoils System: From Washington to Jackson 06:05 The Assassination of James A. Garfield 07:22 The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 08:24 Supreme Court and the Destruction of Civil Service 09:23 Why Trump is Bringing Back Andrew Jackson’s Policies 10:05 The End Goal: More Power for the Top 1% Social Content 🔔 Subscribe: / @thomhartmann 📝 Read Thom's Daily Take: https://hartmannreport.com 📝 Discover the Commonwealth Report: https://commonwealthreport.news 🎦 Full program rerun at Patreon: / thomhartmann #MoreFromThom #Project2025 #RussellVought #PoliticalCorruption #SpoilsSystem #ScienceFunding #ThomHartmann
