Attacks on Science

Science is at the core of a healthy democracy. But for years, presidential administrations have, in differing ways, sidelined scientific evidence and attacked scientific integrity.

Due to the large number of attacks on science we’re seeing from the second Trump administration, we are currently providing regular summaries of documented attacks.

A Backward March: Another Month of Attacks on Federal Science (April 2, 2025)
A Hundred Attacks and Counting: What Happened to Federal Science in February (March 12, 2025)
How Science Has Fared in the First Two Weeks of the New Trump Administration (January 30, 2025)

Below is the list of documented attacks on science that occurred under the four previous administrations. They include disappearing data, silenced scientists, suppressed studies, and other assaults on science-based policy. More information on these attacks can be found in our peer-reviewed study and in our data repository.

Attacks on science

Agency Topic Administration

Trump Administration Violates Law, Extends Fishing Season for the Gulf Red Snapper

The fisheries office of the NOAA decided to disregard their science-based quota requirements and extend the recreational fishing season of the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Trump Administration Manipulates Study on Economic Benefits of Refugees in US

The Trump administration rejected a cost-benefit analysis on the economic impact of refugees because it clashed with the administration’s political position on the subject.

Trump Political Appointees Interfere in Scientific Grants Process

The Department of Interior (DOI) has directed political appointees to begin reviewing discretionary grants to make sure that they align with the priorities of the Trump administration. The directive is being strictly enforced.

Trump Administration Rescinds Fracking Rule for Public Lands

The Trump administration rescinded a 2015 Bureau of Land Management rule that set standards for well construction, wastewater management, and chemical disclosure around hydraulic fracturing on public lands.

Department of Interior Issues Secretarial Order 3360 Rescinding Science-Based Climate Change Policies

The DOI pushed to remove climate change and conservation from internal consideration by rescinding four science-based policies.

Another National Academy of Sciences Study Halted

A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study aimed at investigating how the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement could improve its inspections of offshore oil and gas development was halted by DOI.

Ban on Scientific Words at CDC Causes Uproar

On December 15, 2017, news broke the Trump administration was prohibiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using the words “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based."

Treasury Economists Barred from Conducting Tax Plan Analyses

Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, repeatedly stated that the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul would pay for itself through economic growth and that a Treasury Department analysis would provide evidence of this, but never showed such evidence.

Trump Administration Illegally Withholds Funding from Key Energy Research Program

The Department of Energy withheld almost $100 million of appropriated funds from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The Agency funds high-risk energy research projects that have the potential to yield high rewards.

Environmental Protection Agency Contract with Firm Linked to EPA Employee Surveillance Has Chilling Effect on Agency Scientists

The Environmental Protection Agency hired a Republican public relations firm to take over tracking the agency’s press coverage. The firm is linked with a Republican opposition research group that had filed information requests against EPA employees

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