What is going on with DOGE and the DoD hiring freeze

[mechE29]

does anyone have any idea what is going on with applications and if sponsoring facilities are still accepting people for these scholarships? From what I understand the DoD as a whole is in the middle of a complete hiring freeze, does anyone know if this will affect the SMART program?

[phase1phd]

Scholarship funding and internships have not been affected from what I’ve seen. If SFs are quietly deciding to take on fewer new scholars, we won’t know until the 2025 cohort statistics are released. The freeze does apply to graduating scholars who are waiting to be hired, but I would expect all this to be back to normal by the time you’re graduating.

[guest12]

Any news on this since April began? Curious if SMART will survive DOGE...