Most of the steps taken by the Trump administration so far to sideline or weaken mainstream science were announced within six months of the president’s inauguration, according to a new tracking tool by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The “Attacks on Science Tracker” unveiled Tuesday shows that as of May 31 the administration has taken 574 actions that undermine federal support for science in areas like climate change, public safety, energy and elections integrity. More than three-quarters of those — 437 out of 574 — were announced before Aug. 20, 2025.
Since then, announcements have slowed considerably, with 17 new actions announced this year.
“The data reveals a pattern of the Trump administration hitting the ground running in the first couple of months that he was back in the Oval Office,” said Jules Barbati-Dajches, an analyst with the advocacy group’s Center for Science and Democracy. “There was a concerted effort to appoint people to agencies and to pass executive orders that began to be implemented. A concerted effort to gut research funding. That all happened very early on, and it allowed the Trump administration to lay the groundwork to act with impunity.”
