The devastating cuts in federal research funding made with alacrity by President Trump, Elon Musk, and the misleadingly named “Department of Governmental Efficiency” have hit hard around the country, but no more so than in our area. This chart by Reddit user u/itsjustincase makes the point dramatically.
The illustration shows the total dollar value of funding cuts by congressional district. It’s clear the cuts are impacting communities throughout the United States, in districts represented by both Democrats and Republicans. But the single-most impacted congressional district is North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, our gerrymandered district which includes Durham County, Orange County, northern Chatham County, and a slice of Wake County.
The NC 4th is in its own category, and is the only one where research cuts have caused the termination of between $1 billion and $3.5 billion in research funding. It’s an effort to rip the heart out of the research efforts that have made Durham and Orange counties and the entire Research Triangle economically successful over the last several decades.
It’s a five-alarm fire aimed at the University of North Carolina and Duke. Hopefully our congressional representatives (House member Valerie Foushee, and Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd) will answer the call. You might try calling them as well to urge them to take action.