Micheal Kratsios
Director
Office of Science and Technology Policy The White House
1650 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20504
Dear Director Kratsios,
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order, Restoring Gold Standard Science.1 The EO requires that the Director of the Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP Director) issue guidance, within 30 days of the date of the order, for agencies to implement the EO in the conduct and management of their respective scientific activities. The undersigned organizations work on a wide variety of issues, but all of us are united in recognizing the vital role of scientific integrity in the policymaking process. Accordingly, we ask that public comment opportunities be incorporated into both your process for developing guidance to agencies and as a principle within your guidance to the agencies.
We note that the EO states, “Scientific integrity in the production and use of science by the Federal Government is critical to maintaining the trust of the American people and ensuring confidence in government decisions informed by science … We must restore the American people’s faith in the scientific enterprise and institutions that create and apply scientific knowledge in service of the public good.”
Given this recognition of the importance of public trust and confidence in science-informed government decisions, it follows that OSTP should give the public an opportunity to provide input. When President Biden instructed OSTP to issue guidance for agencies on scientific integrity policies, his presidential memorandum specified that an early step should be for an interagency task force convened by the OSTP Director to “gather input from stakeholders and the public regarding scientific-integrity practices.”2
We believe that the 30-day timeframe is insufficient for developing “gold standard” guidance with robust public input. We ask that OSTP request an extension for the establishment of its guidance in order to incorporate public comment, or else issue your guidance as a draft within the 30 days allotted and then solicit public input for no less than 90 days and use it to revise the guidance.
The EO requires each agency head to promptly update applicable agency policies governing the production and use of scientific information, including scientific integrity policies, to implement the OSTP Director’s guidance. Because these agency-specific policies are also intended to promote not only the best available science but also public trust and confidence, each agency should be required to seek public input in the establishment of any new science policies. To assure this, the OSTP Director’s guidance to the agencies should include the solicitation of public input on draft versions of agency science policies.
Sincerely,
American Bird Conservancy
Center for Progressive Reform
Earthjustice
Environmental Protection Network
Government Information Watch
Ibis Reproductive Health
Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health
National Center for Health Research
Project On Government Oversight
Public Citizen
Sciencecorps
Union of Concerned Scientists