Protecting Government Science from Political Interference

The scientific work of the federal government is vital to the lives of people across the country and around the world—including everything from severe weather forecasting to pollution monitoring and food safety inspection to medical research and efforts to track and fight epidemic disease.

More than 300 attacks on science have occurred over the past four presidential administrations, and an administration that fails to uphold the principles of scientific integrity and allows political interference to undermine science could endanger the health and safety of millions.

This report examines the progress in scientific integrity at 38 major agencies, all of which have seen attacks on science coming from political leadership. The report evaluates whether each agency has an updated scientific integrity policy, whether the agency has named a scientific integrity officer and provided a channel to contact that officer, and whether the agency has clearly reported the number and outcome of scientific integrity investigations. It also offers recommendations for the next presidential administration to improve scientific integrity policies and make sure these policies can be effectively implemented and enforced.