[eks-reigh]

I spent the summer of 2017 as an intern in the department of the interior. At the time, the white house was proposing to cut the DoI's budget by an order of magnitude. I went to a fascinating talk about how they strategize when faced with budget cuts. They don't just cut things from least to most important, they start by cutting things that have champions. For example, the first things on the chopping block at the time were Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay restoration, because those programs have champions in Congress who would fight to get them funded again. More obscure programs don't have that advantage, so if they get cut they're just gone.

[internet_user]

who are the bee champions then? Can't think of a specific name, seems too obvious of a thing to support.

[eks-reigh]

I have no earthly idea, really, but I don't think we would have seen this on hacker news of they were suspending studies of pill bugs, or food packaging, or something boring like that.