President Donald Trump on Friday ordered a sweeping overhaul of federal agencies’ handling of scientific research, coupled with a requirement to revisit all Biden-era regulations to ensure that they mesh with the new policy.
In an executive order titled “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” Trump wrote that federal agencies have contributed to a loss of trust in science in recent years through their handling of various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic, fisheries management and climate change.
Within 30 days, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy must issue guidance to agencies to revamp their management of science to ensure that it is reproducible and transparent, among a lengthy list of requirements, the order says.
Agencies must then review all regulations and other actions issued during President Joe Biden’s term from 2021 to 2025 “to ensure alignment with the policies and requirements of this order.”
The order also requires agencies to return to the scientific integrity policies in place when Trump left office in January 2021 at the end of his first term while they craft updated frameworks.
The order’s emphasis on transparency and reproducibility in scientific research hearkens back to legislation unsuccessfully pushed in past years by congressional Republicans who said that EPA was relying on “secret science” to craft regulations.
While the legislation’s supporters said they were seeking to bolster public confidence in the results, detractors said the underlying goal was to hamstring research that could support stronger health and environmental protections.
In the final weeks of Trump’s first term, EPA adopted a rule titled “Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information.” It was swiftly rescinded under Biden.
