basic

Stefanik and Rubio are conventionally credentialed and will probably have basic familiarity with the issues they’re working on, but they’re also being put in the jobs that have the least potential to turn the U.S. into a failed state, which is good, I guess.

They also create an environment for surprising new discoveries, things scientists would never have dreamed of had they not been in the lab, conducting basic research.

And if basic research is stripped down, streamlined, or tossed entirely in favor of “efficiency”? It will not just be scientists who will suffer—it will be all of us.

The line between basic research and discoveries is not always short.

Per Trump’s press release, it amounts to a basic report of recommended job cuts.