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For Immediate Release
May, 12 2009, 10:11am EDT
Contact:
Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337
White House Grapples With How To Ensure Scientific Integrity
New Whistleblower Protections and Other Rules Slated for President's Desk by July
WASHINGTON
The Obama administration is taking its first step toward its stated
aim of outlawing political manipulation of federal science, according
to public comments filed today by Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER). The White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy (OSTP) is asking for ideas on how to implement a presidential
directive to protect scientific integrity.
Under the Bush administration, cases of political alteration of
scientific documents on topics ranging from global warming to grazing
became notorious, resulting in a parade of adverse court rulings,
embarrassing reports and media exposes. In the 2008 election,
presidential candidates from both parties decried the practice of
political appointees skewing scientific findings to suit pre-determined
ends.
On March 9, 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Memorandum to
all federal departments and agencies declaring his intent to adopt
policies that protect scientific integrity. That order directs his OSTP
to develop proposed policies for Presidential action by July 9, 2009.
On April 23rd, OSTP issued a notice in the Federal Register calling for
public comments on how to best implement this goal. The deadline for
public comments is tomorrow, Wednesday, May 13th.
In public comments filed today, PEER underscores that there are
currently no rules forbidding alteration of scientific conclusions for
non-scientific reasons: "The main reason the Bush administration was
able to politically manipulate science was that there is no rule
against it." PEER recommends that the Obama Administration adopt
government-wide rules forbidding political interference with science,
including -
- New transparency rules allowing scientists and other
specialists to freely speak and write, as well as to communicate
directly with Congress and the media. In addition, professional
scientific societies should be able to work with scientists and
agencies on studies within their disciplines; - Disciplinary
action against government managers, especially political appointees,
who twist or suppress scientific findings. PEER urges the Obama
administration to hold officials to account when they sign off on
decisions found by courts to violate legal standards of scientific
accuracy or sufficiency, as under many environmental statutes, such as
the Endangered Species Act; and - Whistleblower protection
for scientists and technical specialists who today largely lack any
legal shield against on-the-job retaliation for reporting politically
inconvenient facts.
"To stop political manipulation of science, particularly on
high-profile issues, scientific integrity rules must have teeth in the
form of enforceability," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch.
"Another key measure of the effectiveness of new rules will be the
willingness of the Obama administration to hold its own appointees
accountable."
Congress is now considering legislation to extend whistleblower
protection, for the first time, to scientists. PEER is urging Congress
to enact a broader package of scientific integrity rules so that the
safeguards will continue beyond the current administration.
###
Read the PEER comments
View the Obama Presidential Memorandum on Scientific Integrity
Look at the range of scientific integrity issues facing federal environmental agencies
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER's environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.
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As the Trump administration pushes to cut 7,000 jobs held by federal employees at the Social Security Administration, the agency that oversees the crucial anti-poverty program for senior citizens and people with disabilities has made numerous efforts to disguise the customer service crisis that the cuts have caused—and Democrats on Monday demanded answers about what one progressive lawmaker recently denounced as a "cover up" to hide long wait times.
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) led 18 Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee in writing to Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, urging the former Wall Street executive to explain why several customer service metrics were deleted from the SSA's website just as Americans were facing longer wait times and a reduced ability to speak with customer service representatives rather than having their claims and questions handled through automation.
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The letter was sent days after The Washington Post reported that the SSA is pulling staff from its field offices to act as customer service representatives for its 1-800 number following a surge in complaints about dropped calls and website crashes.
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Alex Lawson, executive director of the advocacy group Social Security Works, told the Post last month as the metrics were deleted from the SSA website that the Trump administration's attempts to conceal the effects of its mass layoffs would not succeed.
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Chu and the other Ways and Means Committee Democrats emphasized that the agency recently restored one metric to its new website: a chart showing the six-year trend of disability determination processing times.
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The $925 billion Senate NDAA topline does not include the more than $150 billion Pentagon boost that Republicans inserted in their partisan reconciliation package for fiscal year 2025, pushing the nation's approved military spending above $1 trillion for the year. Trump has openly bragged about his push for a $1 trillion military budget.
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The report, released by the Costs of War Project and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, notes that "the arms industry has used an array of tools of influence to create an atmosphere where a Pentagon budget that is $1 trillion per year is deemed 'not enough' by some members of Congress." Such tools include lobbying and sizable campaign contributions.
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This story has been updated to include comment from Rep. Ilhan Omar.
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Rajaa Qudeih, a 31-year-old mother of two from Deir al-Balah, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz Sunday: "I'm literally dizzy from hunger, thirst, and the heat. Gaza is going through the worst famine, we haven't eaten, and we can't even find a piece of bread."
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