As part of a�push to roll back dozens of environmental regulations, the Trump administration is offering coal-fired power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.
The Environmental Protection Agency has set up an electronic mailbox to allow regulated companies to request a presidential exemption under the Clean Air Act to a host of Biden-era rules.
Companies were asked to send an email by Monday seeking permission from President Donald Trump to bypass the new restrictions. The Clean Air Act enables the president to temporarily exempt industrial sites from new rules if the technology required to meet them is not widely available and if the continued activity is in the interest of national security.
Environmental groups denounced the administration’s offer, calling the email address a polluters’ portal that could allow hundreds of companies to evade laws meant to protect the environment and public health. Exemptions would be allowed for nine EPA rules issued by the Biden administration, including limits on mercury, ethylene oxide and other hazardous air pollutants. Mercury exposure can cause brain damage, especially in children. Fetuses are vulnerable to birth defects via exposure in a mothers womb.
Margie Alt, campaign director of the Climate Action Campaign, said the request for exemption applications is a gift to the fossil fuel industry” and further indication of a polluters-first agenda” under Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Companies can now apply for a gold-plated, ‘get-out-of-permitting free’ card,” she said, adding that the latest action marked at least the third time Zeldin has moved to weaken enforcement of environmental laws since he took office less than two months ago. On March 12, he announced a series of actions to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles.
Last month, Zeldin said he would push for a 65% spending cut at the agency, saying, We dont need to be spending all that money that went through the EPA last year.
Trump and Zeldin, aided by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, have also pushed to drastically reduce EPA staffing, and the agency is considering a plan to eliminate its scientific research office. About 1,000 scientists and other employees who help provide the scientific foundation for EPA rules safeguarding human health and the environment could be fired.
The EPA’s offer for companies to request exemptions was first reported by The New York Times.
Submitting a request via this email box does not entitle the submitter to an exemption,” the EPA said in a statement. The President will make a decision on the merits.
Authority for exemptions solely rests with the president, not EPA,” added EPA spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou.
Former President Joe Biden offered similar exemptions after issuing a rule last year tightening emission standards for ethylene oxide from commercial facilities that sterilize medical equipment, she noted.
Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, called EPA’s action an invitation to pollute and an abuse of power by Zeldin. Coal-fired power plants have long used scrubbers and other devices to limit mercury and other toxic pollution and can continue to do so, she said, adding that hundreds of companies nationwide could potentially apply for exemptions that are neither needed nor legal.
“We will go to court. We will get their records and we will make that list (of exemptions) public,” she said.
Jason Rylander, a lawyer for another environmental group, the Center for Biological Diversity, called the EPA’s actions ridiculous and one more demonstration that the Trump administration wants to help polluters, not protect the environment.
It is an enormous stretch to suggest that theres some national interest in giving industry the right to pollute. That doesnt make sense to me, he said.
Trump declared an energy emergency early in his term and has embraced policies to boost and oil and gas production, which he sums up as drill, baby drill.”
In my view, we’re in the middle of a climate emergency,” Rylander said. But in the Trump administrations view, we have this fictitious national energy emergency that may provide a basis for (Trump) to claim this is somehow in the national security interests of the United States.
Exemptions offered this week also could apply to more than 200 chemical plants nationwide that are being required to reduce toxic emissions likely to cause cancer. The rule, issued last year, advanced the former presidents commitment to environmental justice by delivering critical health protections for communities burdened by industrial pollution from ethylene oxide, chloroprene and other dangerous chemicals, the Biden administration said.
Formally undoing the Biden administrations protections, however, is complicated and could take years. Exemptions for specific plants may be a faster workaround in the meantime, according to Bradford Mank, a law professor at the University of Cincinnati.
Matthew Daly, Associated Press
Associated Press writer Michael Phillis contributed to this report.
This week, the internet had a rare opportunity to transform their selfies and family photos into stunning Studio Ghiblistyle portraits. What started as a lighthearted trend quickly took a darker turn. Soon after “Images for ChatGPT” was unveiled on Tuesday, a tsunami of images generated in the distinctive Studio Ghibli style flooded social media. X users posted Ghiblified versions of their personal photos, popular memes, and public figures like President Donald Trump.
Sam Altman, OpenAIs chief executive, changed his profile picture on X to a Ghiblified image of himself and posted, grind for a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whateverwake up one day to hundreds of messages: ‘look i made you into a twink ghibli style haha’. Altman later joked on X that OpenAI’s servers were “melting” from the demand.
>be me>grind for a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whatever>mostly no one cares for first 7.5 years, then for 2.5 years everyone hates you for everything>wake up one day to hundreds of messages: "look i made you into a twink ghibli style haha"— Sam Altman (@sama) March 26, 2025
Even the White House’s official X account jumped on the trend, sharing an image of a weeping woman from the Dominican Republicrecently arrested by U.S. immigration agentsstyled as a still from a Studio Ghibli movie.
While the internet had its fun, serious ethical questions and copyright concerns began to surface. Critics raised concerns over whether OpenAI was unfairly using the work of artists, including Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki. Animated films like My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away arent made overnight; they require intricate hand-drawn animation and painstaking attention to detail that can take years to complete.
According to the Associated Press, the company said the new tool would take a conservative approach when it came to mimicking the aesthetics of individual artists. We added a refusal which triggers when a user attempts to generate an image in the style of a living artist, OpenAI said in a technical paper posted Tuesday. The company added that it permits broader studio styles which people have used to generate and share some truly delightful and inspired original fan creations.
The Ghibli-gate controversy is just the latest in a series of lawsuits filed by news organizations, authors, and musicians who claim their work was used to train AI models without permission.
As for Miyazaki, the founder of Studio Ghibli, his feelings about AI-generated art are clear. In a resurfaced clip from a 2016 documentary, he called A.I. an insult to life itself. Perhaps something to bear in mind before Ghiblifying a picture of your cat.
Greenlands massive cap of ice, containing enough fresh water to raise sea levels by 23 feet, is in serious trouble. Between 2002 and 2023, Greenland lost�270 billion tons�of frozen water each year as winter snowfall failed to compensate for ever-fiercer summer temperatures. Thats a significant contributor of sea level rise globally, which is now at a�quarter of an inch�a year.But underneath all that melting ice is something the whole world wants: the rare earth elements that make modern societyand the clean energy revolutionpossible. That could soon turn Greenland, which has a population size similar to that of Casper, Wyoming, into a mining mecca.�Greenlands dominant industry has long been fishing, but its government is now looking to diversify its economy. While the island has opened up a handful of mines, like for gold and rubies, its built and natural environment makes drilling a nightmarefreezing conditions on remote sites without railways or highways for access. The countrys rich reserves of rare earths and geopolitical conflict, however, are making the island look increasingly enticing to mining companies, Arctic conditions be damned.When President Donald Trump talks about the United States acquiring Greenland, its partly for its strategic trade and military location in the Arctic, but also for its mineral resources. According to one Greenland official, the island possesses 39 of the 50 minerals that the United States has classified as critical to national security and economic stability. While the island, an autonomous territory of Denmark, has made clear it is not for sale, its government is signaling it is open to business, particularly in the minerals sector. Earlier this month, Greenlands elections saw the ascendance of the pro-business Demokraatit Party, which has promised to accelerate the development of the countrys minerals and other resources. At the same time, the partys leadership is pushing back hard against Trumps rhetoric.Meltwater drips from glacier ice in Disco Bay, Greenland, revealing bare earth beneath. [Image: Science Photo Library/Getty Images/Grist]Rare earth elements are fundamental to daily life: These words you are reading on a screen are made of the ones and zeroes of binary code. But theyre also made of rare earth elements, such as the terbium in LED screens, praseodymium in batteries, and neodymium in a phones vibration unit. Depending on where you live, the electricity powering this screen may have even come from the dysprosium in wind turbines.�These minerals helped build the modern worldand will be in increasing demand going forward. They sit at the heart of pretty much every electric vehicle, cruise missile, advanced magnet, said Adam Lajeunesse, a public policy expert at Canadas St. Francis Xavier University. All of these different minerals are absolutely required to build almost everything that we do in our high-tech environment.To the increasing alarm of Western powers, China now has a stranglehold on the market for rare earth elements, responsible for 70% of production globally. As the renewables revolution unfolds, and as more EVs hit the road, the world will demand ever more of these metals: Between 2020 and 2022, the total value of rare earths used in the energy transition each year quadrupled. That is projected to go up another tenfold by 2035. According to the European Commissions Joint Research Centre, by 2030, Greenland could provide nearly 10,000 tons of rare earth oxides to the global economy.�One way to meet that demand, and for the world to diversify control over the rare earths market and speed up clean energy adoption, is to mine in Greenland. (In other words, the way to avoid future ice melt may, ironically, mean capitalizing on the riches revealed by climate-driven ice loss.) On the land currently exposed along the islands edges, mining companies are starting to drill, and the U.S. doesnt want to be left out of the action.�But anyone gung-ho on immediately turning Greenland into a rare earths bonanza is in for a rude awakening. More so than elsewhere on the planet, mining the island is an extremely complicated, and lengthy, propositionlogistically, geopolitically, and economically. And most importantly for the people of Greenland, mining of any kind comes with inevitable environmental consequences, like pollution and disruptions to wildlife.The Trump administrations aggressive language has spooked Indigenous Greenlanders in particular, who make up 90% of the population and have endured a long history of brutal colonization, from deadly waves of disease and displacement to forced sterilization. Its been a shock for Greenland, said Aqqaluk Lynge, former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and cofounder of Greenlands Inuit Ataqatigiit political party. They are looking at us as people that you just can throw out.Lacking the resources to directly invest in mining for rare earths, the Greenland government is approving licenses for exploration. We have all the critical minerals. Everyone wants them, said Jrgen T. Hammeken-Holm, permanent secretary for mineral resources in the Greenland government. The geology is so exciting, but there are a lot of buts.The funny thing about rare earth elements is that theyre not particularly rare. Planet Earth is loaded with themonly in an annoyingly distributed manner. Miners have to process a lot of rock to pluck out small amounts of praseodymium, neodymium, and the 15 other rare earth elements. That makes the minerals very difficult and dirty to mine and then refine: For every ton of rare earths dug up, 2,000 tons of toxic waste are generated.Chinas government cornered the market on rare earths by both subsidizing the industry and streamlining regulations. If you can purchase something from a Chinese company which does not have the same labor regulations, human rights considerations, environmental considerations as you would in Australia or California, youll buy it more cheaply on the Chinese maket, Lajeunesse said. Many critical minerals that are mined elsewhere in the world still go back to China, because the country has spent decades building up its refining capacity.China has used the rare earths market as an economic and political weapon. In 2010, the so-called Rare Earths Trade Dispute broke out, when China refused to ship the minerals to Japana country famous for its manufacturing of technologies. (However, some researchers question whether this was a deliberate embargo or a Chinese effort to reduce rare earth exports generally.) More subtly, China can manipulate the market on rare earths by, say, increasing production to drive down prices. This makes it less economically feasible for other mining outfits to get into the game, given the cost and difficulty of extracting the minerals, solidifying Chinas grip on rare earths.They control every stagethe mining of it, and then the intermediate processing, and then the more sophisticated final product processing, said Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources, and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a think tank in Canada. So they can intervene in the market at all these levels.This is a precarious monopoly for Western economies and governments to navigate. Military aircraft and drones use permanent magnets made of terbium and dysprosium. Medical imaging equipment also relies on rare earths, as do flatscreens and electric motors. Its not just the energy transition that needs a steady supply of these minerals, but modern life itself.As a result, all eyes are turning toward Greenlands rich deposits of rare earths. The island contains 18% of the global reserves for neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, according to the European Commissions Joint Research Centre. Even a decade ago, scientists reported that the island could meet a quarter of the global demand for rare earths.The question is whether mining companies can overcome the headaches inherent in extracting rare earths from Greenlands ice-free yet still frigid edges. An outfit would have to ship in all their equipment and build their own city at a remote mining site at considerable cost. On top of that, it would be difficult to actually hire enough workers from the islands population of laborers, so a mining company may need to hire internationally and bring them in. Greenland has a population of 57,000, just 65 of whom were involved in mining as of 2020, so the requisite experience just isnt there. Labor laws are much more strict than they would be in a Chinese rare earth mine in Mongolia, Lajeunesse said. All of those things factor together to make Arctic development very expensive.Still, the geopolitical pressure from Chinas domination of the rare earths market has opened Greenland to exploration. No one needs to wait for further deterioration of the islands ice sheet to get to work, as theres enough ice-free land along these edges to dig through. Around 40 mining companies have exploration, prospecting, and exploitation licenses in Greenland, with the majority of the firms based in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. We can give you these minerals, Hammeken-Holm said, but you need to come to Greenland and do the exploration.One of those companies is Critical Metals Corp., which in September drilled 14 holes on the coast of southern Greenland, about 16 miles from the town of Qaqortoq. The New York-based company says its found one of the worlds highest concentrations of gallium, which isnt technically a rare earth element but is still essential in the manufacturing of computer chips.Dramatic change on and around the island, though, could make mining for rare earths even more complicated. While the loss of floating ice in the waters around the island makes it easier and safer for ships to navigate, more chunks of glaciers will drop into the ocean as the world warms, which could become especially hazardous for ships, la the Titanic.�Even given the rapid loss of Greenlands 650,000-square-mile ice sheet, though, it would take a long while to lose it allits 1.4 miles thick on average. The Earth itself is also frozen in parts of the island, known as permafrost, which will thaw in the nearer term as temperatures rise. Thats going to give you certainly instability in terms of building access roads and such, said Paul Bierman, a geologist at the University of Vermont and author of the book When the Ice Is Gone: What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earths Tumultuous History and Perilous Future. The climate is changing, so I think its going to be a very dynamic environment in which to extract minerals.�Mining pollution, too, is a major concern: The accessible land along the islands ice-free edges is also where humans live. As mining equipment and ships burn fossil fuels, they produce black carbon. When this settles on ice, it darkens the surface, which then absorbs more sunlightthink of how much hotter you get wearing a black shirt than a white shirt on a summer day. This could further accelerate the melting of Greenlands precarious ice sheet. A 2022 study also found that three legacy mines in Greenland heavily polluted the local environment with metals, like lead and zinc, due to the lack of environmental studies and regulation prior to the 1970s. But it also found no significant pollution at mines established in the last 20 years.�A more immediate problem with mining is the potentially toxic dust generated by so much machinery, said Niels Henrik Hooge, a campaigner at NOAH, the Danish chapter of the environmental organization Friends of the Earth. Thats a concern, because all the mining projects are located in areas where people live, or potentially could live, Hooge said. Everything is a bit different in the Arctic, because the environment does not recover very quickly when polluted.Lynge says that a win-win for Greenlanders would be to support mining but insist that its run on hydropower instead of fossil fuels. The island has huge potential for hydropower, and indeed has been approving more projects and expanding another existing facility. Still, no amount of hydropower can negate the impact of mining on the landscape. Theres no sustainable mining in the world, Lynge said. The question is if we can do it a little bit better.Critical Metals Corp., for its part, says that it expects to produce minimal harmful products at its site. Like other mining projects in Greenland, it will need to pass an environmental review. We expect to provide more updates about our plans to reduce our environmental footprint as we get closer to mining operations, said Tony Sage, the companys CEO and executive chairman, in a statement provided to Grist. With that, we believe it is important to keep in mind that rare earth elements are critical materials for cleaner applications, which will help us build a greener planet in the future.�Still, wherever theres mining activity, theres potential for spills. Teres also potential for a lot of noise: Ships in particular fill the ocean around Greenland with a din that can stress and disorient fishes and marine mammals, like narwhals, seals, and whales. For vocalizing species, it can disrupt their communication.�Theres a lot at stake here economically and politically, too: Fishing is Greenlands predominant industry, accounting for 95% of the islands exports. Rare earth mining, then, is the islands play to diversify its economy, which could help it wean off the subsidies it gets from the Danish government. That, in turn, could help it win independence.Thus far, the mining business has been a bit rocky in Greenland. In 2021, the government banned uranium mining, halting the development of a project by the Australian outfit Greenland Minerals, which would have also produced rare earths at the site. (Greenland Minerals did not respond to multiple requests to comment for this story.) The China-linked company is now suing the Greenland government for $11 billionpotentially spooking other would-be prospectors and the investors already worried about the profitability of mining for rare earths in the far north.When we talk to them, they understand the situation, and theyre not afraid, said Hammeken-Holm. He added that Greenland maintains a dialogue with mining outfits about the challenges, and prospects, of exploration. It is difficult to get private finance for these projects, but we are not alone, he said. Thats a worldwide situation.The growing demand and geopolitical fervor around rare earths may well make Greenland irresistible for mining companies, regardless of the logistical challenges. Hammeken-Holm says that a major discovery, like an especially rich deposit of a given rare earth element, might be the extra boost the country needs to transform itself into an indispensable provider of the critical minerals.Both Exner-Pirot, of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and Lajeunesse, the public policy expert, say that Western powers might get to the point where they intervene aggressively in the market. Like Chinas state-sponsored rare earths industry, the U.S., Canada, Australia, or the European Unionwhich entered into a strategic partnership with Greenland in 2023 to develop critical raw materialsmight band together to guarantee a steady flow of the minerals that make modern militaries, consumerism, and the energy transition possible. Subsidies, for instance, would help make the industry more profitableand palatable for investors. Youd have to accept that youre purchasing and developing minerals for more than the market price, Lajeunesse said. But over the long term, its about developing a security of supply.Already a land of rapid climatological change, Greenland could soon grow richerand more powerful on the world stage. Ton by ton, its disappearing ice will reveal more of the mineral solutions to the worlds woes. Matt Simon, GristTom Vaillant contributed research and reporting.This article originally appeared in Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here.
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to clarify the Trump administration’s “right” to rescind student visas and deport international students who are critical of Israel’s U.S.-backed war on Palestine. However, his bold assertions may have led to even more confusion around what immigration experts say are illegal new procedures.
Rubio made the comments at a press conference Thursday in response to a question about the arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national who wrote an op-ed that offered a narrative critical of Israels siege. He said that at least 300 student visas have already been revoked, but said he hopes it’s even more. “If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio told reporters.
Rubio continued, seeming to offer the perspective that the U.S. is within its rights to remove those who use their voices against the administration’s stance. “And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio asserted.�
Rubio’s language this week conjured up images of violent and destructive protests. And President Donald Trump has accused protesters and others whose visas it has terminated of being pro-Hamas, however evidence has only pointed to students speaking out against what the United Nations has called a “genocide.” Rumeysa Ozturk wasn’t even protesting, but was one of four authors on an op-ed urging divestment “from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.” The article made no mention of Hamas.
In a jarring video of the student’s arrest, Ozturk is seen being cornered by ICE off-campus and taken into custody. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell called Ozturk’s arrest “disturbing” in a statement on social media. “Based on what we know now, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views.”
Mahsa Khanbabai, attorney at Khanbabai Immigration Law, who is part of Ozturk’s legal team said, per the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called Ozturk’s treatment “shocking, cruel, and unconstitutional.” Khanbabai said, “For nearly 24 hours, we could not locate her, and despite a court order to prevent the government from taking her out of Massachusetts, we finally learned the Trump administration had shipped her to Louisiana. Criticizing U.S. foreign policy and human rights violations is neither illegal nor grounds for detention. The government must immediately release R�meysa to continue her studies and rejoin her community.Ozturk is currently being held at a federal detention facility in Louisianathe same location where Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate student who was arrested on March 8 for organizing student protests, remains.
Meta wants to revive Facebooks old-school appeal by introducing a new Friends Tab, which will focus solely on posts shared by a user’s friends and family.
This Friends Tab will replace the section in the app that previously displayed friend requests and suggested friends. Instead, users in the United States and Canada will now see a scrolling feed featuring photos, videos, friend requests, birthday reminders, and text posts.
“Over the years, Facebook evolved to meet changing needs and created best-in-class experiences across Groups, Video, Marketplace and more, but the magic of friends has fallen away,” the company wrote in an unattributed blog post. “Well be adding several ‘OG’ Facebook experiences throughout the year, beginning with the revamped Friends tab.”
Importantly, the new Friends Tab wont replace the Home feed, which still includes recommended content. However, Facebook may see this as a way to offer the best of both worlds.
The company received significant backlash in 2022 after announcing plans to introduce recommended content from users who werent added as “friends.” Although Meta scaled back that content, users continued to see their feeds flooded with posts from creators and brands over time.
This algorithm-driven approach has generally been seen as a strategy to boost engagement. Instead of checking in occasionally to stay connected with friends, many users turned to social media for endless scrolling.
“Social media should feel social,” the company wrote. “In that spirit, well be adding more fun, simple experiences to help you connect and share on Facebook throughout the year.”
Facebooks user base continues to skew older. A Pew Research Center survey from fall 2023 found that only a third of American teens ages 13 to 17 reported using Facebooka steep drop from the 71% who said they used it in a 20142015 survey. Its unclear how many young users will actually see the latest updates.
Still, the move could appeal to users weary of algorithms and brand-driven content. Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said during a January analyst call that there are many opportunities to make the app more culturally influential than it is today.
President Donald Trump�moved Thursday to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law.
The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security.
Police and firefighters will continue to collectively bargain.
Trump said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 gives him the authority to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies because of their role in safeguarding national security.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said late Thursday that it is preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks.
President Trumps latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants nearly one-third of whom are veterans simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement, Its clear that this order is punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administrations illegal actions in court and a blatant attempt to silence us. She also vowed, We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being.
The announcement builds on previous moves by the Trump administration to erode collective bargaining rights in the government.
Earlier this month, DHS said it was ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of frontline employees at the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA union called it an unprovoked attack and vowed to fight it.
A White House fact sheet on Thursday’s announcement says that Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda and that Trump refuses to let union obstruction interfere with his efforts to protect Americans and our national interests.
President Trump supports constructive partnerships with unions who work with him; he will not tolerate mass obstruction that jeopardizes his ability to manage agencies with vital national security missions, the White House said.
Darlene Superville, Associated Press
After decades of partnership with the U.S. government, colleges are facing new doubts about the future of their federal funding.President Donald Trump’s administration has been using the funding spigot to seek compliance with his agenda, cutting off money to schools including Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. All the while, universities across the country are navigating cuts to grants for research institutions.The squeeze on higher education underscores how much American colleges depend on the federal governmenta provider of grants and contracts that have amounted to close to half the total revenue of some research universities, according to an Associated Press analysis.It adds up to a crisis for universities, and a problem for the country as a whole, say school administrators and advocates for academic freedom. America’s scientific and medical research capabilities are tightly entwined with its universities as part of a compact that started after World War II to develop national expertise and knowledge.“It feels like any day, any university could step out of line in some way and then have all of their funding pulled,” said Jonathan Friedman, managing director of free expression programs at PEN America.
Tens of billions of dollars are at stake
The AP analysis looked at federal funding for nearly 100 colleges currently under investigation for programs the administration has deemed as illegally pushing diversity, equity, and inclusion, or for not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism. Those schools took in over $33 billion in federal revenue in the 20222023 academic year. That’s before taking into account federal student aid, which represents billions more in tuition and room-and-board payments.For most of the schools, around 10% to 13% of their revenue came from federal contracts or research funding, according to the analysis. For some prestigious research universities, however, federal money represented up to half of their revenue.The AP analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics and federal audit reports, with help from researchers Jason Cohn and James Carter at the Urban Institute.Perhaps no school is more vulnerable than Johns Hopkins University, which received $4 billion in federal funds, close to 40% of its revenue, according to the analysis. Much of that went to defense research, paying for projects like missile design, submarine technology, and precision tracking systems in outer space. Billions of dollars also went to medical research for topics such as immunology and transplants, aging, neuroscience, and mental health.Johns Hopkins is facing an anti-Semitism investigation, which threatens its federal money, but already it has been feeling the effects of cuts to research grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. Earlier this month, it announced 2,200 layoffs.“We face challenging times for the patients and families that rely on us for cures and treatments, and for the researchers dedicated to the pursuit of improving the health of all Americans,” the university said in a statement.
Trump extracted concessions from Columbia
Trump has singled out Columbia University, making an example of the Ivy League school by withholding $400 million in federal money. The administration repeatedly accused Columbia of letting anti-Semitism go unchecked at protests against Israel that began at the New York City university last spring and quickly spread to other campusesa characterization disputed by those involved in the demonstrations.As a precondition for restoring that moneyalong with billions more in future grantsthe Republican administration demanded unprecedented changes in university policy. Columbia’s decision last week to bow to those demands, in part to salvage ongoing research projects at its labs and medical center, has been criticized by some faculty and free speech groups as capitulating to an intrusion on academic freedom.At the White House on Wednesday, Trump expressed satisfaction with the pressure campaign on colleges.“You see what we’re doing with the colleges, and they’re all bending and saying, ‘Sir, thank you very much, we appreciate it,'” Trump said during an event for Women’s History Month.In the 20222023 academic year, Columbia got close to a fifth of its revenue from federal sources, around $1.2 billion. An audit shows that much of Columbia’s federal money went to research and development, including $166 million for global AIDS programs, $99 million to study aging, $28 million for cancer biology, and $24 million for drug abuse and addiction research.
A new approach on enforcement of civil rights laws
Federal law allows the Education Department to terminate funding to colleges that violate civil rights laws, but only after taking certain steps. Title VI of the law says the department must first make a formal finding of noncompliance, offer a hearing, notify Congress, and then wait 30 days before pulling aid.But the Trump administration has a new strategy, moving quickly from demands to penalties with little room for negotiating, and little indication of due process, legal experts say.At Penn, the administration suspended $175 million in federal funding from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services over a transgender swimmer who last competed for the school in 2022. The White House said the action came out of a review of discretionary money going to universities.“It looks like much of the playbook is intimidation, more so than actual substantiated legal findings,” said Michael Pillera, director of educational equity issues at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “I think all of this is designed as an attempt to intimidate all universities, not just the institutions under investigation.”The cuts and the uncertainty have led some universities to accept fewer graduate students, cutting off pathways to careers. Many graduate students in science programs receive scholarships and stipends that come from federal research grants.Purdue University senior Alyssa Johnson had been planning to pursue graduate research on amphibian diseases, and she was accepted into one of three schools she applied to. She said one of the schools appeared to have limited their acceptances to preemptively avoid funding concerns. But given her application experience, the changing landscape of research, and her shifting interests, she decided to change her course of study to something she felt would help build trust between scientists and the public.“I kind of went through a little bit of career crisis, which was definitely catalyzed by what’s going on with the current administration and their attitudes toward science and science communication,” Johnson said.
AP writers Kasturi Pananjady, Cheyanne Mumphrey and Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Sharon Lurye and Jocelyn Gecker, AP Education Writers
Losing your job can hurt you in many ways. Maskot/Getty Images
The Trump administrations firing and furloughing of tens of thousands of federal workers and contractors have obviously caused economic hardship for Americans employed in national parks, research labs, and dozens of government agencies.
As a professor of social work who studies how peoples finances affect their physical and mental well-being, Im concerned about the health hazards theyll face, too.
My research shows that losing your job can seriously harm your physical and mental health, especially when you see the situation as a catastrophe rather than a temporary setback.
Power of financial perception
When people lose their jobs, they do have real problems. Typically, for example, their income and savings decline. They might struggle to keep up on their rent or mortgage payments and might not be able to afford to maintain the same standard of living they had beforehand.
However, research shows that your perspective regarding your financial situation can do more harm to your health than your actual financial circumstanceseven as your savings dwindle.
Someone might view losing their job as a temporary setback and remain relatively calm, while another person might experience the same circumstances as a disaster, triggering intense stress that cascades into serious health problems, such as depression and substance abuse. This difference in perspective often determines whether somebody will suffer significant health problems when they lose their job or experience a similar financial setback.
In a study I published in 2023 with social work scholar Theda Rose, we found that how a person felt about a decline in income mattered 20 times more than the actual financial change itself.
This finding comes from our analysis of data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, which surveyed more than 27,000 American adults. We used advanced statistical methods to examine how different financial factors affected peoples health and financial decision-making, looking specifically at financial strain, confidence in managing money, and overall financial satisfaction.
The study confirmed earlier work about the vastly different psychological and physical responses two people can have when their income falls by the same amount, based on how they perceive this change.
Pathway to illness
Previous research has typically viewed whats known as financial precaritynot having enough money to get byin either purely technical terms, such as being able to come up with U.S.$400 in an emergency, or in terms related to your feelings about that situation, such as persistent worrying about your finances.
However, we found that both aspects of financial precarity can influence health and behavior.
Among the many variables we explored, a decline in income surprisingly contributed much more in terms of worry than just not being able to pay the bills.
This distress caused by economic hardship isnt just a psychological problemit can produce physical changes that may have long-term health implications, such as high blood pressure.
A fired IRS employee, right, talks to a recruiter during a jobs fair for laid-off federal workers on March 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Mental health suffers
Theres also a toll on your mental health.
Losing a job can lead to anxiety, depression, and lower self-esteem.
Interestingly, people who face ongoing financial challenges but dont get stressed about their situation arent more likely to develop depression symptoms than people without any financial stress.
A systematic review of 65 studies found clear connections between debt and mental health problems, depression, and even suicide attempts.
Physical health troubles
Losing your job can harm your body in two main ways.
First, the stress from financial worries can affect peoples bodies directlyfor example, by increasing blood pressure. Being in debt is associated with other ailments, including back pain and obesity.
Second, when money is tight, people often try to save money by skipping doctor visits or forgoing prescription drugs. Even with health insurance, high deductibles can mean paying thousands of dollars out of pocket before insurance helps. When choosing between paying for rent, food, and healthcare, people often put their medical needs last.
Unhealthy coping methods
Some people turn to lcohol, tobacco, or other substances to cope with the loss of their jobs. These habits are bad for your health and may empty your wallet, adding to the financial strain.
Others turn to gambling or excessive shopping to cope, which can also make money problems even worse.
Marriage and other relationships may fray amid financial stress, too. Borrowing money excessively from friends and family or snapping at your loved ones when you feel stressed out can weaken ties with those closest to you.
Moving on in healthy ways
To be sure, some people become more resilient after losing their job by adopting positive coping strategies.
Whenever you lose a job, try reaching out. Your friends and loved ones can help protect your health while you move on.
In addition to applying for new positions, spend time networking. Reach out to former colleagues, join professional groups, and attend events related to your career.
Try to volunteer. It will help you sharpen or expand your skills while expanding your networks and perhaps lead you to a new job.
And consider starting or expanding a side hustle. It will generate some income, give you a greater sense of control over your life, and keep you feeling productive during the monotony of sending out applications.
Its also essential to stick to self-care basics: Regular exercise reduces stress hormones. Getting enough sleep improves cognitive function, and maintaining a busy social life provides emotional support.
Keeping healthy habits is always important. But they could protect your mental and physical health during challenging times. Losing a paycheck is hard enough. Losing your health over it is even worse.
Jeffrey Anvari-Clark is an assistant professor of social work at the University of North Dakota.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
If youve bought the antihistamine medication Benadryl from Amazon in the past few years, youll want to make sure to carefully check its packaging to make sure it is not part of the recall that was posted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) this month.
Thats because a select Benadryl product sold on the e-commerce giants website has a fault that could lead to the risk of a child being poisoned. Heres what you need to know.
Benadryl Liquid Elixir sold on Amazon.com is being recalled
On March 20, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission posted a recall notice on its website for Benadryl Liquid Elixir imported by Arsell Inc. of Brooklyn, New York. The medication was manufactured in Canada.
While the medication itself is safe, the Benadryl Liquid Elixirs packaging is not child-resistant as required by law. This means that the product poses a safety risk to young children. If they open the product and swallow the medicine inside, they could be poisoned.
The Benadryl contains diphenhydramine, which must be in child-resistant packaging as required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act. The packaging of the products is not child-resistant, posing a risk of poisoning if the contents are swallowed by young children, the notice posted on the CPSC website warns.
What Benadryl product is being recalled?
According to the notice posted on the CPSC website, only one specific Benadryl product is being recalled. The details of that product are:
Product name: Benadryl Liquid Elixir, 100 mL bottles
Product packaging: paper box with a round dark plastic bottle inside.
Label code: X003VRIGUL
In total, about 2,300 bottles are being recalled. Images of the product packaging can be viewed here.
Where was the recalled Benadryl product sold?
According to the notice on the CPSC website, the recalled product was sold online at Amazon.com. It was sold between July 2023 and October 2024. The price of the product ranged from $16 to $19.
Have any children been harmed by the recalled Benadryl product?
Thankfully, no. As of the March 20 posting date, the recall notice says that there have been no reported injuries or incidents so far.
What do I do if I have the recalled product?
The CPSC notice says the recalled product should be immediately secured and kept out of sight and reach of children. People with the product should contact the importer, Arsell, for a full refund.
You will be asked to provide proof of your Amazon purchase and proof that you have disposed of the bottle and its contents.
Those with the recalled Benadryl can contact recall@arsellsupport.com to begin the recall process. Full details of the recall can be found on the notice here.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday launched investigations into Stanford University and three University of California schools to ensure they comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down race-conscious admissions.
The 2023 ruling effectively prohibited affirmative action policies that were long used to raise the number of Black, Hispanic, and other underrepresented minority students on American campuses.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed the department’s civil rights division to investigate to ensure that the schools comply with a Supreme Court decision that prevents colleges and universities from discriminating when choosing students for admission, the department said in a news release.
In addition to Stanford, the review will cover the University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of California, Irvine.
Since taking office for his second term, President Donald Trump’s administration has attempted to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the government and the private sector. He has also taken aim at academic institutions and universities, launching dozens of investigations and threatening to cut off funding to schools that promote DEI.
“President Trump and I are dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country,” Bondi said in the release. “Every student in America deserves to be judged solely based on their hard work, intellect, and character, not the color of their skin.”
The investigations were “just the beginning” of the Justice Department’s attempt to eradicate DEI programs, the media release said.
Stanford University said in a statement it began taking steps to comply with the Supreme Court decision immediately after it was issued.
“We continue to be committed to fulfilling our obligations under the law. We do not have details about today’s announcement, but we look forward to learning more about their concerns and responding to the department’s questions,” Stanford spokesperson Dee Mostofi said in an email.
The University of California said it has adhered to a ban on affirmative action in admissions since California voters approved one in the ballot initiative Proposition 209 in 1996.
“At the same time, we remain committed to expanding access for all qualified students,” the statewide university system said in a statement. “The UC undergraduate admissions application collects students’ race and ethnicity for statistical purposes only. This information is not shared with application reviewers and is not used for admissions.”
Ryan Patrick Jones and Daniel Trotta, Reuters
