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.
Below is a running list of attacks on science. They include disappearing data, silenced scientists, suppressed studies, and other assaults on science-based policy. The list provides a representative sample of threats to the federal scientific enterprise—and a warning of what we face in the future. More information can be found in our peer-reviewed study and in our data repository.
Attacks on science
![Child drinking glass of water.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-09/1500-900-child-drinking-water.jpg?itok=aC7vNWuv)
EPA Refuses to Regulate Rocket Fuel Chemical in Drinking Water
![Gloves hands holding a petri dish.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-09/1500-900-petri-hands.jpg?itok=lVyvsq6R)
Fetal Tissue Research Blocked by a Biased Advisory Committee
![Student in an empty classroom wears a mask.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-08/1500-900-student-mask-classroom.jpg?itok=NRczviPj)
White House Demands Rewriting of CDC’s COVID-19 Guidelines for Schools
![Person wearing a mask in the dark, typing on a laptop.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-08/1500-900-woman-mask-laptop.jpg?itok=0JL9a5Zf)
Trump Administration Takes Away Hospitalization Data From the CDC
![A scientist in a lab](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-03/scientist-lab-petri.jpg?itok=_MbTY8p3)
Trump Administration Endangered People Evacuating From Coronavirus-Infected Cruise Ship
![President Trump standing at a podium.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-07/1500-900-trump-podium.jpg?itok=HyA2aBJo)
White House Hides Economic Analysis Showing COVID-19 Downturns
![A commercial fishing boat.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-07/1500-900-commercial-fishing-boat.jpg?itok=ccVCpLjM)
NOAA Fisheries is Restricting the Use of the Words “COVID-19” and “Pandemic”
![People sitting in church holding bibles.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-07/1500-900-church-bibles.jpg?itok=aVw0JMbj)
Trump Administration Buries COVID-19 Information For Religious Communities
![A parent taking their child's temperature.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-05/1500-900-ear-thermometer.jpg?itok=zE911vVI)
Trump Administration Ignores CDC Scientists on COVID-19 Temperature Screenings
![Person biking through flooded street.](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2020-05/1500-900-ny-flood-biker.jpg?itok=qhn8vEjZ)