Nationwide Protests Unite Against Cuts to Research and Education Funding

Detroit, MI — In a powerful nationwide demonstration titled Kill the Cuts, thousands united to oppose recent policies from the Trump administration perceived as harmful to research, health, and education sectors. This Day of Action saw collaborations from numerous advocacy groups including UAW, SEIU, AFSCME, UE, and others. These efforts were designed to highlight significant funding cuts and their impact across various domains. A comprehensive list of events can be found here.

Individuals directly impacted by these funding reductions, such as researchers and educators, shared testimonies on the national repercussions of these cuts. Below are selected statements accompanied by relevant images:

“NIH is the bedrock of American health,” expressed Haley Chatelaine, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health and a member of UAW 2750. “I’ve spoken with patients whose lives depended on the groundbreaking research we do. Any delay—whether it’s due to pauses in grant funding or firings of federal workers—puts Americans’ health at risk. That’s why we, the workers who do the research, are standing up to protect it.” (Photos here, credit UAW)

“By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars,” stated Rafael Jaime, president of UAW 4811. “These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy.” (Photos here, credit UAW)

“Federal research funding is critical to my research into how neurons in our brains communicate,” explained Dagan Marx, a Postdoc at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Recklessly slashing funding that institutions like Weill Cornell depend on for medical breakthroughs and supporting researchers has devastating impacts on our research and our working conditions.” (Photos here, credit New York City Central Labor Council)

“I’m proud to be researching ways to better detect ovarian cancer after losing my mom to the disease two years ago,” said Mari Hoffman, an Academic Student Employee at the University of Washington. “Without funding from the NIH, breakthroughs won’t happen and that’s a tremendous loss for research and the general public.” (Photos here, credit UAW)

President Trump's recent Executive Orders targeting the NIH and NSF, along with restructuring the Department of Education, are raising concerns over potential setbacks in medical and scientific progress. These changes are expected to affect critical research areas, from climate change to Alzheimer's, potentially costing the public billions.

For more details on the National Day of Action and to find out about rally locations, visit www.killthecuts.org.