John Majerus

@john.majerus.us

325 Followers 766 Following

Mediocre servant to cats; admiring of all who endeavor to fight misinformation, particularly harmful health misinformation. Pro-science<=>Anti-misinformation; Pro-peace<=>Anti-war. http://john.majerus.us Rochester, Minnesota.

As you're no doubt already aware, the OMB's proposed Regulation on Federal Financial Assistance (OMB-2026-0034) would hand political appointees veto power over the entire federal grant process — overriding peer review, permitting mid-period termination of awards, and restricting the speech and advocacy of grantees. I won't belabor what you've already heard.

What I do want to put in front of you are the voices of people whose work is directly at stake. Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at Yale's School of Public Health, was blunt: "These rules declare war on honest science." Kate Marvel, a climate scientist who recently left NASA due to political interference, noted that America became a research superpower precisely because it had "a merit-based science funding system, where research is funded by the federal government based on the assessments of other scientists." And historian Tim Snyder, who studies Soviet authoritarianism, said the proposal reminded him of "late Stalinism" — a system where "people who know nothing about science are the ones making the decisions about what's going to go forward."

This rule also directly implicates your authority, not just theirs. Congress established many of these grant programs by statute, with explicit criteria — criteria this rule would subordinate to a political appointee's shifting judgment. That's not a minor procedural adjustment. It's a transfer of power.

I urge you to weigh in publicly before the comment period closes July 13th, and to be prepared to act legislatively if this rule is finalized.

Sincerely,

John Majerus
Rochester, Minnesota

Molly, my tuxedo cat, head shot portrait using 3-point flash photography.

On this World Kindness Day, my family and I reflect with profound gratitude on the compassion that surrounded us in the aftermath of violence. In our darkest hours, it was kindness — from friends, neighbors, first responders, and strangers — that carried us forward.

Kindness is not weakness. It is the quiet strength that binds a nation together in times of division and heals what hate seeks to break. As we continue to serve, we do so with renewed faith in the decency and courage of Minnesotans.

May we never forget that empathy is the foundation of public service — and that every act of kindness, no matter how small, strengthens the promise of our democracy.

#WorldKindnessDay #LeadershipThroughCompassion

Tim Walz: "It was an honor to sign the guest book in the home of Anne Frank.
I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history.
Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it."

USAID Supports Minnesota Agricultural Producers.
USAID partners with businesses, universities, nonprofits, and farmers across Minnesota to provide lifesaving agricultural assistance around the world....