Of the 536 attacks on science that @jbd-phd.bsky.social and @ucs.org colleagues have tracked since January 20, 2025, many relate to how agencies "have attacked the science behind vaccine safety, development, and efficacy." Consequence for public health will be severe. blog.ucs.org/jules-barbat...

"It is impossible for science to thrive in an environment that silences experts or manipulates findings to fit political agendas, which is why the Scientific Integrity Act, reintroduced this year in Congress, is needed now more than ever before." -Joseph Reed, @ucs.org blog.ucs.org/joseph-reed/...

The Trump administration has given free rein to some of the most polluting industries in the country. We created an interactive map showing 546 industrial sites across the US and Puerto Rico deemed eligible for exemptions from their Clean Air Act requirements. #DirtyDeeds (🧵)

We know President Trump is no friend of science or of providing health care to those who need it. The data and evidence show: acceptance and appropriate healthcare save kids’ lives. Get the facts: act.ucsusa.org/4qFhdQ1

7/ The comment period for the rule is open until 11/7. Make your voice heard! 👇

1/ Last month, the EPA proposed a rule that will significantly weaken safety reviews for toxic chemicals used in the U.S. Weakening these reviews can open the door to more exposure to toxic chemicals, including PFAS and formaldehyde.

Evidence for Democracy (E4D) recently completed a review of scientific integrity (SI) policies in the US & Canada. Its analysis revealed key criteria of SI (protections for scientists, transparent research, enforcing/normalizing SI policies) have suffered in the US since Inauguration.

Cancelled surveys, suppressed publications, hidden data: the Trump administration is continuing to hack and slash its way through the entire enterprise of science within the federal government. Here’s a snapshot of the attacks on science that we saw during September:

This week, a group of experts will step up in a big way to ensure that science goes on, despite Trump administration cuts to Federal science advice. They join several other independent science efforts fighting back. 🧵 blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...

Last week the Trump administration shut down the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, which had provided crucial independent advice on protecting air quality for more than three decades.

BREAKING: New UCS report shows the Trump admin has systematically cut the public out of federal decision making, and six agencies bypassed public participation processes required by law in 182 out of 591 rules that were issued, rolled back, or delayed between January 20 and July 31.

This week, multiple leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were ousted or resigned due to continued political interference and pressure to limit vaccine access. These firings defy all scientific evidence and endanger our health. We must not allow it to stand.

What's alarming about the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy guidance to agencies on "gold standard science"? @jbd-phd.bsky.social identifies red flags, like a lack of recognition of the importance of independent science and the need to protect scientists blog.ucs.org/jules-barbat...

This week, multiple leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were ousted or resigned due to continued political interference and pressure to limit vaccine access – actions that defy the scientific evidence and endanger our health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump’s executive order uses terms often associated with science and the scientific process, but behind this façade are directives that would weaken existing agency scientific integrity policies. These policies were created to protect federal scientists and their work from political attacks.

Environmental justice (EJ) is about fairness and access to a healthy and safe environment for all people. The Trump administration has disrupted and disbanded EJ initiatives including funding, research, and projects. Yet, this important work has and must continue. 🧵

Federal scientific integrity (SI) policies were created to protect fed scientists & their work from politicization, retaliation, & censorship. The Trump admin is replacing them w/ new policies to give the admin more leeway in politicizing science to reach conclusions convenient for its agenda🧵

More than 3,000 scientists and public health specialists have been let go from the Department of Health and Human Services, per a new study from @propublica.org, based on that agency’s employee directory.

“By reverting to these older policies, we’re going to see scientists lose protections from retaliation. We’re going to see the loss of professional or appointed scientific integrity officers,” said UCS's Jennifer Jones. “They will now basically be replaced with political appointees.”

ASK A SCIENTIST: Can documenting attacks on science help us stop authoritarianism? UCS's Jules Barbati-Dajches Responds.

Calling all scientists and science supporters! You have a crucial role to play in countering the authoritarian threat we currently face in this country. Learn more about how you can stand up for the facts and truth that are essential for a free and democratic society. blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...

"When people work together, there can still be wins for federal science, even with the unprecedented number and ferocity of attacks on science we’ve observed since Inauguration Day." Stay up to date on federal science wins and challenges in UCS's monthly round-up by @jbd-phd.bsky.social.

In the past six months, the Trump administration has systematically and recklessly undermined federal science. Read our new report here: act.ucsusa.org/Trump6Months

In a democracy, government employees can voice respectful dissent to their leadership. But today, EPA leadership retaliated against its own employees for expressing disagreement w/ the admin’s actions & policy directions. Punishing gov't employees for this expression is an alarming development. 🧵

The richness of President Trump's Science Advisor accusing others of politicizing science as they gut Federal science agencies and target politically contentious science topics—like climate, equity, and vaccines—with surgical precision is really quite something. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This week, Trump's WH issued guidance on implementing its so-called “Gold Standard Science” EO—framed by Science Advisor to the President Michael Kratsios as a fix for longstanding issues in the scientific community. But as UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social explains, it’s all a “golden facade.”

Since Inauguration Day, 418 actions by the administration may have undermined science—66 in the last month alone. Check out @jbd-phd.bsky.social’s snapshot of this chaotic moment and find ways to help protect federal science.

We all have a role to play to uphold our values, regardless of shifting federal policies. Learn more and take the pledge:

On May 23, Trump signed an executive order misleadingly titled "Restoring Gold Standard Science". It guts scientific integrity policies across agencies. We sent a letter to OSTP, which is the office drafting new guidance. Learn what’s at stake in @jbd-phd.bsky.social's new blog.

"Behind the rhetoric of scientific values like transparency, reproducibility, and integrity, the [executive] order disrupts longstanding process and policy in US science and undermines the principles it claims to uphold." - @gretchentg.bsky.social & @jbd-phd.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/389/...

“Authoritarian regimes treat scientific evidence not as a tool calibrated by research, collaboration, and the free exchange of ideas, but as an obstacle to overcome.” UCS’s Melissa Finucane explains how today’s attacks on science echo a dark history, and why they pose a threat to democracy & us all.

“The scientific community has a chance to disrupt this attack on science (...) When these bad ideas reared their head before, outcry and mobilisation from the scientific community helped defeat them.”— @gretchentg.bsky.social & @jbd-phd.bsky.social in @bmj.com ➡️ ‬www.bmj.com/content/389/...

"It bears repeating: the power to decide over whether a study meets the Trump administration’s 'standard' would rest in the hands not of scientists but of political appointees, who could use this power to discard any evidence that doesn’t give them an answer they want."

The Trump administration recently released the deceptively named “Gold Standard Science” executive order. The order disrupts longstanding process and policy in US science and undermines the principles it claims to uphold, @ucs.org www.bmj.com/content/389/...

The Gold Standard Science Executive Order should set off alarm bells for anyone who cares about evidence-based policy. The EO resurrects efforts to restrict the science that can be used in agency decisions. More from me and @jbd-phd.bsky.social in a new @bmj.com Opinion: www.bmj.com/content/389/...

Another Orwellian EO-this one allowing politicians to control & "correct" scientific info. @ucs.org: "What’s being demanded here is an unwinding of scientific integrity policies, under the misleading name of “Gold Standard Science,” to serve the values and priorities of the current administration."

On May 23, President Trump signed an Executive Order misleadingly titled “Restoring Gold Standard Science”. It aims to roll back scientific integrity policies and weaken safeguards against political interference, creating a playground for polluters. Here's why these policies matter:

"By silencing and sidelining science, the administration is positioning itself as an arbiter of truth—all to push policy that meets its political goals and rewards powerful, connected interests, even as it endangers the health and safety of everyone in the U.S." - @jbd-phd.bsky.social on the new EO.

Late last week, President Trump issued an executive order that directs federal agencies to terminate their Scientific Integrity Policies and interfere in science-based decision making. Read a statement by UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social. ➡️ act.ucsusa.org/4mBnWrT

Last week, President Trump issued an EO directing federal agencies to scrap Scientific Integrity Policies & undermine science-based decision making. ”The Trump administration intends to weaponize science to undermine public health and safety protections," said UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social.

The Trump administration just dropped an executive order, "Restoring Gold Standard Science" and there's lots to unpack. This EO reveals more about how the Administration will approach scientific integrity and science in regulatory contexts. Some initial thoughts. 🧵 www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Imagine this scenario: analysts in a federal agency follow the scientific process to reach a conclusion based on evidence. Then, a Trump official instructs them to “redo” the analysis so that its results don’t contradict the White House’s position and messaging. Does that sound suspect to you? (🧵)

HHS recently released a report questioning the science behind gender-affirming care (GAC). The existing body of scientific evidence shows overwhelmingly positive impacts of GAC on mental health and well-being. It decreases depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and death among people of all ages 🧵

Since Inauguration Day, the Trump administration has taken 343 actions that may have undermined science. UCS analyst Jules Barbati-Dajches examines the impacts of these attacks and provides resources for those interested in advocating for science.

my colleague @jbd-phd.bsky.social runs down a long list of the latest attacks on science, targeting trans people, autistic people, and public health information: blog.ucs.org/jules-barbat...

The scientific community is at a pivotal moment right now. And we are seeing things start to shift. Now is the time for scientists and scientific institutions to step up. No one is coming to save us. 🧵