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Federal Cuts Prompt Johns Hopkins to Cut More Than 2,000 Workers

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Federal Cuts Prompt Johns Hopkins to Cut More Than 2,000 Workers

Johns Hopkins University, one of the country’s leading centers of scientific research, said on Thursday that it would eliminate more than 2,000 workers in the United States and abroad because of the Trump administration’s steep cuts, primarily to international aid programs.

The layoffs, the most in the university’s history, will involve 247 domestic workers for the university, which is based in Baltimore, and an affiliated center. Another 1,975 positions will be cut in 44 countries. They affect the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, its medical school and an affiliated nonprofit, Jhpiego.

Nearly half the school’s total revenue last year came from federally funded research, including $365 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development. In all, the university will lose $800 million in funding over several years from U.S.A.I.D., which the Trump administration is in the process of dismantling.

Johns Hopkins is one of the top university recipients of the funding that the administration is aiming to slash. And it appears to be among the most deeply affected of the major research institutions that are reeling from cuts — or the threat of cuts — to federal money that they depend on for research studies and running labs.

In a statement on Thursday calling it a “difficult day,” Johns Hopkins said it was “immensely proud” of its work on the projects, which included efforts to “care for mothers and infants, fight disease, provide clean drinking water and advance countless other critical, lifesaving efforts around the world.”

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In a statement last week describing Johns Hopkins’s reliance on federal funding, Ron Daniels, the university’s president said, “We are, more than any other American university, deeply tethered to the compact between our sector and the federal government.”

Of the school’s total operating revenue in 2023, $3.8 billion, or nearly half, came federally funded research. The Trump administration has said that it wants to make the government leaner and more efficient by, among other measures, dramatically cutting financial support for the program, which promotes public health and food security in low-income countries.

In ordering cutbacks in the agency, which amount to a 90 percent reduction in its operations, President Trump said that it was run by “radical left lunatics” and that is was riddled with “tremendous fraud.”

Critics of the decision, however, have said the cuts are ushering in a new era of isolationism that could prove to be dangerous. Sunil Solomon, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins, said the cuts would lead to a resurgence in the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

“What true great nations do is help other nations, but now, it seems, we’re America first,” Dr. Solomon said.

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The administration has also sought to reduce the amount of money that the National Institutes of Health sends to university for research, cuts that have been blocked for now in the courts. If they go into effect, those cuts would reduce federal payments to Johns Hopkins by more than $100 million a year, according to an analysis of university figures.

The university, which receives about $1 billion a year in N.I.H. funding and is currently running 600 clinical trials, is one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging those cuts.

Separately, the Trump administration also has targeted specific schools for cuts. It slashed $400 million from Columbia’s budget last week based on accusations that it had failed to protect students and faculty from antisemitism.

Johns Hopkins and Columbia are on a list of 10 schools that the administration says are being scrutinized by an executive branch antisemitism task force. The administration has threatened to reduce federal funding for schools on the list, and others, that it views as being noncompliant with federal civil rights laws.

In addition to the more than 2,000 employees whose jobs have been eliminated, the university said that an additional 78 domestic employees and 29 international would be furloughed at reduced schedules.

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The cuts at Johns Hopkins involve programs funded by U.S.A.I.D. through which American universities have worked with global partners, largely to advance public health and agricultural research. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that 5,200 of the agency’s 6,200 contracts had been canceled and that the remaining programs would be operated directly by the State Department, eliminating the need for U.S.A.I.D., which is under the State Department.

Research projects that are being eliminated include international work on tuberculosis, AIDS and cervical cancer, as well as programs that directly benefit residents of Baltimore.

Dr. Solomon, the epidemiologist, runs a $50 million, six-year program to improve H.I.V. outcomes in India. He said the budget cuts in his program alone would result in layoffs of about 600 people in the United States and India. The program had led to, among other things, the diagnosis of almost 20,000 people with H.I.V. through contact tracing.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Dr. Solomon said. “Stopping funding isn’t going to kill you today, but in six months you’re going to see an impact around the world.”

Dr. Judd Walson runs the department of international health at Johns Hopkins, which oversaw a five-year, $200 million program to diagnose and control tuberculosis in 20 countries funded by U.S.A.I.D.

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In Kampala, Uganda, he said, the program was the only way children were diagnosed.

“That’s just one example of how the sudden withdrawal of support is having real impacts on survival,” he said.

In addition to the loss of jobs at Johns Hopkins, he said, the loss of the programs will lead to a spike in communicable diseases worldwide.

What is essentially a shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. has had significant effects at universities around the country.

An organization called USAID StopWork, which is tracking the layoffs, said that overall, 14,000 domestic workers had lost their jobs so far, with thousands more anticipated.

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Research by the Federal Reserve shows that universities serve as major economic engines in many agricultural regions, from Iowa to Florida, meaning that the impact of the administration’s cuts to science research will be felt in both red states and left-leaning communities like Baltimore.

The elimination of a $500 million agriculture project called Feed the Future, which funded agriculture labs at 19 universities in 17 states, means many of those labs must shutter.

At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 30 people have lost their jobs at a Feed the Future lab that worked on improving soybean cultivation in Africa, according to Peter D. Goldsmith, a professor of agriculture who ran that laboratory.

At Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss., a fisheries laboratory was shut down, according to Sidney L. Salter, a university spokesman, who did not disclose the number of jobs lost.

Economic ripple effects of the funding cuts are expected to spread through the Baltimore area. Johns Hopkins, which enrolls about 30,000 students, is also one of Maryland’s largest private employers.

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Video: Tasting Six Mystery Chips

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Video: Tasting Six Mystery Chips

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Which of these uniquely-flavored potato chips would be your favorite? Watch Wirecutter’s full potato chip taste test with special guest and cookbook author Maxine Sharf on YouTube.
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Video: Turning Point USA Clubs Expand to High Schools Across America

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Video: Turning Point USA Clubs Expand to High Schools Across America

“I would just like to say, ‘Welcome to Germany, 1939.’” “We have been labeled as homophobes, bigots, racists and fascists.” “For years, my conservative peers and I have peacefully coexisted with feminist clubs and L.G.B.T.Q. clubs.” This is Onondaga County in Central New York, where a brand of high school clubs founded by Charlie Kirk and financed by his conservative juggernaut Turning Point USA, has led to this. “These accusations are not only untrue, but they undermine the very principles of open dialogue and respectful debate that we promote.” “It really is as bad as you think, just from a student perspective.” “If there’s going to be a Club America, by God, there needs to be a Club Progressive.” Before his assassination, Charlie Kirk made it clear he wanted a TPUSA chapter in every high school. “He told the team, let’s do 25,000 high school chapters. Club America has exploded in popularity in the months since Kirk was killed, with at least 3,300 chapters in high schools across the U.S., according to Turning Point USA. “I’m excited to announce today that every Oklahoma high school will have a Turning Point USA chapter.” States are also endorsing the club. “I’d love to see a chapter in every single high school in the state.” At least eight Republican governors have partnered with Turning Point, vowing to bring Club America to all of their public high schools. But here in New York, where Democrats govern and a statewide embrace of TPUSA’s conservative Christian ideology is unlikely, students like Jacob Kennedy are still trying to launch Club America, even if that means an uphill battle. “I have grown up in a Christian home, which follows mostly the values of conservative beliefs. It’s my first year at a public school. I did not feel accepted to share my conservative beliefs and my religion.” For most of his life, Jacob lived overseas where his parents were missionaries. “And starting this Club America, I am quickly finding other people that have the same values as me.” Jacob really didn’t even know who Charlie Kirk was until he was killed. Since then, he’s connected with Kirk’s message on religion as much as politics. “There was no question at the time of the founding that God played a central role in all of our government.” “Whether it is immigration laws or abortion, I put my religion first and then my political worldviews.” But Jacob’s push to secure approval from the district to establish Club America at his high school has stoked a sense of anxiety in community members who see Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric as racist and homophobic. “This was Charlie Kirk’s organization — that tells you a lot about this club. It’s not for everybody. It’s divisive.” “No matter who it is — Charlie Kirk or Charlie Brown — this is still the United States, and we do have freedom of speech.” Federal law requires equal access to all sorts of clubs, from Jesus and Me to the Afterschool Satan Club. As long as they are student-initiated and aren’t disruptive, anything goes. “So what is Club America? What do we do? We promote the values of free speech, patriotism and small government.” Turning Point USA declined multiple requests from The New York Times to participate in this story, and even told students in Club America chapters not to speak with us. But we did manage to film a public information session addressing the backlash the group has received. “Let’s talk. If we don’t talk, we’ll never get to get outside of our echo chambers. And Charlie Kirk always said, when we stop talking, that’s when violence happens.” “Are you advocating for your student groups to have open discussion? I don’t see that as the actual implementation level, what’s happening.” “Debate is absolutely encouraged in your Club America meetings where you’ve set ground rules for your debates.” “How do you plan on ensuring that kids from the L.G.B.T.Q.+ communities feel more included and feel safe?” “‘There are students of all different backgrounds, all socioeconomic statuses and of all persuasions involved in Club America. And if those students don’t attend, that’s on them. But you’re welcome to be there.” Charlie Kirk’s influence is everywhere from President Trump’s State of the Union address — “My great friend Charlie Kirk, a great guy.” — To his five-story portrait draped outside the Department of Education in D.C. It’s with this singular influence and power in the world of conservative media, politics and faith that Turning Point USA is hoping to get high schoolers registered to vote before this November. Jacob’s goal is much simpler. He just wants to get students together to hash out their differences. But until his club’s approved, he’ll have to engage with them one-on-one. “Whether you support L.G.B.T. rights, whether you are a a son or daughter of an illegal immigrant, whether you are pro-choice, you have the free will to join the club and be a part of it.”

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After F.B.I. Raid, Los Angeles School Board Discusses Superintendent

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Board members are having an emergency meeting a day after agents raided the home and office of Alberto Carvalho, the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent. The F.B.I. also searched the Florida home of a consultant with ties to the schools chief.

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