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

NASA Reaches for Muzzle as Renowned Climate Scientist Speaks Out

Dr. James E. Hansen, the top climate scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), warns that the world has little time to waste in reversing its current trend toward global warming.

Grazing Regulations Include Doctored Environmental Analysis

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials compromised the integrity of a BLM study by removing scientific concerns about the effects newly relaxed grazing regulations would have on public lands.

FWS Decrees the Southwestern Bald Eagle is Safe, in Spite of Science

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior officials forced FWS scientists to manipulate their findings to validate a decision to deny protection under the Endangered Species Act to Arizona bald eagles.

EPA Removes Lead Scientists, then Considers Removing Lead Air Quality Protections

The EPA may ignore the unanimous advice of its Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and abandon 30 years of air quality control by removing lead, a powerful neurotoxin, from the list of pollutants it monitors under the Clean Air Act.

U.S. Surgeon General Muzzled by Political Appointees

Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona charged the Bush administration with unprecedented levels of political interference in his work as the nation’s doctor, compromising his ability to deliver the best available public health science to Americans.

FEMA Exposes Gulf Coast Residents to Formaldehyde

Despite warnings that some travel trailers and mobile homes provided to Katrina disaster victims contained harmful levels of formaldehyde, FEMA failed to adequately test occupied trailers.

Government Climate Web Sites: Missing in Action

Several agency websites providing information about climate science have disappeared or been allowed to stagnate in recent years.

BLM Cuts Forest Grant after Study Criticizes Tree Cutting

In February 2006, the federal Bureau of Land Management suspended an Oregon State University grant after university researchers published a study in the journal Science concluding that logging in the wake of an Oregon fire retarded the forest’s recovery.

Department of Education Ignores Politically Inconvenient Study on School Performance

In July 2006, the Department of Education announced a $100m proposal to fund vouchers for poor children to attend private schools, while a keeping quiet a study released days earlier showing private schools were no more effective at educating children.

Endangered Frog Loses, Developers Win as Critical Habitat is Reduced

In April 2006, the US Fish and Wildlife Service finalized plans to reduce by nearly 90 percent the critical habitat set aside for the protection of a rare California frog.

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