This is a real problem now. It's not pessimistic hand wringing, and the US could easily see its scientific infrastructure collapse. I don't think the general pu

This is a real problem now. It's not pessimistic hand wringing, and the US could easily see its scientific infrastructure collapse. I don't think the general public really comprehends what's at stake — some do but others do not. The other side of the coin is that foreign academics, with maybe the exception of China, has its own financial problems. A lot of the initiatives getting attention in the news are much smaller than they are being hyped, and they're nowhere near enough to capture the US academic system. That could easily change though. My sense is a lot of people are kind of holding their breath to see how things turn out, but I think it could be really bad. As the article points out, it's probably the junior scientists most at risk of leaving. But those are also probably the people you want to have stay, or attract. There are a ton of problems in academics that have needed remedy for a long time, but what is happening now is making things much worse. It's certainly not in good faith, and not actually intended to help science in the US — if anything it's maliciously intended.