#317 Dr. Bryant Lin; Rep. Sylvester Turner; NIH Cuts Blocked Amidst Fear; DOGE Errors; +

In This Issue #317

·       NYT: Dr. Bryant Lin Got Cancer; He Didn't Quit

·       Remembering Congressman Sylvester Turner

·       Trump's Cuts to NIH Blocked Amidst Fear and Uncertainty

·       DOGE Errors and Questions of Transparency

·       News and Activities for the Communities

NYT: Dr. Bryant Lin Got Cancer; He Didn't Quit 

According to New York Times on February 26, 2025, Dr. Bryant Lin 林百里, a Stanford University professor and physician, was given a terminal Stage 4 lung cancer at age 50. A nonsmoker, he had spent much of his career researching lung cancer in Asian populations—only to find himself facing the very disease he had studied. Instead of withdrawing, he chose to teach a deeply personal course, “From Diagnosis to Dialogue: A Doctor’s Real-Time Battle With Cancer,” in which he shared his journey as both a doctor and a patient.The course filled immediately, with students even sitting on the floor to attend. Dr. Lin was moved by their enthusiasm, telling them, “It’s quite an honor for me, honestly. The fact that you would want to sign up for my class.”Throughout the 10-week course, he remained upbeat, guiding students through discussions on the psychology of illness, difficult medical conversations, and the role of spirituality in coping with disease. His wife, Christine Chan, spoke in a session on caregiving, describing her challenges and their family’s adjustments. Despite the severity of his condition, Dr. Lin’s humor shone through—when discussing new treatment options, he quipped, “Asking for a friend!”In one lecture, Dr. Lin shared a letter from a dying patient who had chosen to end dialysis, expressing gratitude for his care, “You treated me as you would treat your own father.”Dr. Lin explained that this moment stayed with him and inspired him to give back through his class. His goal was to help students see the humanity in medicine and, perhaps, inspire some to work in cancer care. By the final lecture, when he asked how many were considering that path, about a third raised their hands.His closing remarks echoed Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell, “Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

He expressed gratitude for his students, family, and colleagues, stating, “I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”The class had an impact beyond medical training. Some students encouraged their families to get screened for lung cancer. One freshman, Gideon Witchel, took the course to better understand his mother’s past battle with breast cancer. Inspired by Dr. Lin, he finally talked to her about her illness, reading through letters she had written during treatment.Dr. Lin referred to his course as his “letter” to students, sharing his lessons while he still had time. Privately, he had written a personal letter for his sons to read after he was gone: “Whether I’m here or not, what I want you to know is that I love you. Of the many things I’ve done that have given my life meaning, being your daddy is the greatest of all.”His story became one of resilience, education, and love—an unfinished puzzle that others would continue piecing together.Read the New York Times article: https://bit.ly/43sYFZU  

Remembering Congressman Sylvester Turner

According to multiple media reports, Congressman Sylvester Turner passed away suddenly on March 4, 2025.  He was 70.Rep. Turner was elected to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District in the November 2024 election.  The district includes much of inner-city Houston and the surrounding areas.  Before him, the seat was held by late-Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.  Rep. Jackson Lee represented the district from 1995 until July 2024, when she died of pancreatic cancer.  Prior to joining Congress this year, Rep. Turner was mayor of Houston and a member of the Texas House of Representatives.Both Reps. Turner and Jackson Lee participated actively in the opposition of the Texas alien land bill SB147 in 2023, taking to the streets and marching with the Asian American communities.  According to Houston Public Media on January 23, 2023, then-Houston-Mayor Turner said, "Senate Bill 147 is just down right wrong.  It is more divisive than anything else. Houston, the most diverse city in the United States, stands as one to say that we all should stand against 147."

Trump's Cuts to NIH Blocked Amidst Fear and Uncertainty

As of March 6, 2025, the number of lawsuits against President Donald Trump's executive actions reported by the Just Security Litigation Tracker has grown to 104.According to AP News, New York Times, STAT, and multiple media reports, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing National Institutes of Health (NIH) payments for research indirect cost, a decision that suggests plaintiffs seeking to overturn the sweeping policy change are likely to eventually succeed. “Absent a nationwide injunction, institutions across the country will be forced to operate with the same uncertainty, resulting in the types of irreparable harm that a preliminary injunction is meant to prevent,” she wrote.Judge Kelley made the ruling in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health (1:25-cv-10338) which was filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Massachusetts.  The case combined three lawsuits brought by coalitions of Democratic states, universities, and medical associations.  Dr. David J. Skorton of the Association of American Medical Colleges, one of the plaintiffs, applauded the ruling. “These unlawful cuts would slow medical progress and cost lives,” he wrote in a statement, saying the NIH-funded research “benefits every person and community in America.”According to the Washington Post on March 6, 2025, the Trump administration’s orders have created more turmoil and damage at the NIH than was previously known.On January 24, 2025, the Trump administration installed Matthew Memoli, a longtime NIH influenza researcher and physician who was not part of the senior leadership ranks, as acting director, bypassing Lawrence Tabak, principal deputy director of NIH who served as acting director for two years under the Biden administration.

That initial shock marked the beginning of six weeks of turmoil for NIH's scientific staff. In just that short period, the Trump administration reshaped NIH's leadership, stalled its core mission of identifying cutting-edge research to fund, and effectively silenced personnel at the world's largest biomedical research sponsor—a $48 billion operation supporting roughly 300,000 external scientists. The Washington Post provides a detailed week-by-week summary of the events.Even in a climate of fear, NIH employees say they want to protect their institution. They worry this winter of disruption may be causing lasting damage to the way science is conducted in the United States.“The whole thing could just disappear,” said Phil Murphy, senior investigator and chief of the laboratory of molecular immunology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “The biomedical research enterprise in the United States depends largely on NIH dollars. You take the dollars away, the labs go away, and you lose the next generation of scientists.”

Latest Developments with Federal Employees

According to AP News on March 5, 2025, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 180 employees who were laid off two weeks ago can come back to work.  An email was reportedly sent with the subject line, “Read this e-mail immediately.” It said that “after further review and consideration,” a February 15 termination notice has been rescinded and the employee was cleared to return to work on Wednesday. “You should return to duty under your previous work schedule,” it said. “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”According to NPR on March 5, 2025, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to temporarily reinstate close to 6,000 employees fired since February 13, finding reasonable grounds to believe the agency acted illegally in terminating them. MSPB issued a stay, ordering the USDA to return the fired workers to their jobs for 45 days while an investigation continues. The MSPB acts as an internal court to consider federal employees' complaints against the government.  According to MSPB, the weekly number of cases it receives has spiked since February, reaching 2,178 in the most recent week.     According to Federal News Network on March 4, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has just rehired about half of the employees it fired two weeks ago. The reversal comes after a federal judge ruled in American Federation Of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. United States Office of Personnel Management (3:25-cv-01780) that the Trump administration's directives telling agencies to fire their probationary employees were illegal. The reinstated workers will receive backpay and will not see a break in service. While 84 employees will be going back to work, the other 86 fired workers will still be out of their jobs. NSF said that is because they were intermittent employees and not full-time staff members.

DOGE Errors and Its Lack of Transparency

According to New York Times on March 3, 2025, for the second time in a week, Elon Musk’s "Department Government Efficiency" updated its “wall of receipts” to remove mistakes that inflated its success, erasing over $4 billion in claimed savings.  It deleted or altered more than 1,000 contracts—40% of last week's listings.  Total reported savings has dropped from $16 billion to under $9 billion since February 19.Experts have flagged numerous errors, including miscalculations, duplicate entries, and contracts that ended long ago. According to Inside Higher Ed on March 5, 2025, education scholars say the administration’s rash of cuts and lack of quality transparency will have a “devastating effect” on public policy and student outcomes for years to come.On February 18, 2025, President Trump ordered federal agencies to disclose all terminated programs, contracts, and grants to enhance transparency. However, the Department of Education has not provided details on cuts totaling $1.9 billion, despite requests. Critics argue the administration is failing to be truly transparent, with experts warning that these cuts will significantly impact research, policymaking, and education outcomes.“The cuts that happened recently are going to have far-reaching impacts, and those impacts could really be long term unless some rapid action is taken,” said Mamie Voight, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.  “To eliminate data, evidence and research is working in opposition to efficiency,” she said.In a recent analysis, titled “Running Down DOGE’s Department of Education Receipts,” Nat Malkus, deputy director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, compared a leaked list of the 89 terminated Institute of Education Sciences contracts, along with detailed data from USASpending.gov*, to those DOGE had posted on its website. He said he found major inconsistencies in how savings were calculated.

Antoinette Flores, director of higher education accountability and quality at New America, conducted similar research and also found that the DOGE data does not add up and exaggerates the savings.  “It’s absolutely hypocrisy,” she said. “It feels like we’re all being gaslit. I don’t know why they are saying they want to be transparent without being transparent.”

* What is USASpending.gov?

USASpending.gov is the official U.S. government website that tracks federal spending. It provides public access to data on how taxpayer dollars are allocated, including details on federal contracts, grants, loans, and other financial assistance. The site is managed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and aims to enhance transparency by allowing users to search and analyze government expenditures across agencies, recipients, and specific programs.USASpending.gov was created as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 26, 2006. The website was launched in 2007.

News and Activities for the Communities

1. APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:2025/03/12 MSU Webinar on China Initiative2025/03/16 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/03/26 Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within2025/03/30 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/04/13 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/24-26 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala2025/04/27 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/05/05 APA Justice Monthly MeetingVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details.

2. 03/12 MSU Webinar: The China Initiative

On March 12, 2025, please join the webinar hosted by Michigan State University's Asian Pacific American Studies Program for an insightful discussion of the past and present of the China Initiative, a Trump administration program that targeted Asian American scholars and researchers for investigation and prosecution.  Dr. Lok Siu of UC Berkeley and Dr. Jeremy Wu of APA Justice will speak at the event moderated by Dr. Kent Weber of Michigan State University.Register to attend: https://bit.ly/4hVaITO

3. USCET 2025 Summer Internship Opens 

The U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) is accepting applications from undergraduate juniors, seniors, and graduate students passionate about U.S.-China relations. This hybrid, part-time internship at a nonprofit dedicated to cross-cultural dialogue offers hands-on experience and the opportunity to earn a stipend or academic credit.  Read the job description and follow application steps here: https://bit.ly/3Nz4Tyi.Application Deadline: March 28, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET.

4. Erratum

In APA Justice Newsletter Issue #316, Jeremy Berg was incorrectly identified as a former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He previously served as the director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of NIH. We regret the error.