Latest news with #ScientificIntegrityPolicy
The Hill
25-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
NOAA places two high-ranking officials on leave
The Trump administration has placed two high-ranking officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on leave amid a series of efforts to make cuts at the agency. NOAA spokesperson Kim Doster confirmed in an email that deputy general counsel Jeff Dillen and acting assistant secretary Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, were placed on administrative leave. CNN, which first reported the news, also reported that the duo led the investigation into the 'Sharpiegate' scandal, which is when NOAA released a statement rebuking a weather service office social media post that contradicted President Trump about the path of Hurricane Dorian in 2019. However, Doster said that the decision to place the officials on leave was not related to the investigation. Instead, she said that Dillen was placed on leave 'pending a review of performance issues over the past several weeks.' She did not say what the alleged issues were. She said that Volz was placed on leave 'on an unrelated matter,' but did not specify what it was. The move comes a few weeks after the confirmation hearing of Neil Jacobs to lead the agency. Jacobs also led NOAA under the last Trump administration, including during the 'Sharpiegate' scandal. A 2020 report on the incident found that Jacobs violated NOAA's Scientific Integrity Policy. Jacobs told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that 'there's probably some things I would do differently' in regards to the incident.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump rescinds Biden-era policy declaring DEI an 'integral' part of scientific process
FIRST ON FOX: As part of the Trump administration's efforts to peel back Biden-era diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirements, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) rescinded the agency's "Scientific Integrity Policy" implemented under former President Joe Biden. A "Final Scientific Integrity Policy" was unveiled by the Biden administration during the last few weeks of its term. The policy posited that DEI was an "integral" part of "the entire scientific process," and pushed NIH's chief scientist and top scientific integrity official to "promote agency efforts regarding diversity, equity and inclusion." It also instituted agency-wide policy directives ordering supervisors at the NIH to "support" scientists and researchers who are "asexual" or "intersex," while imploring NIH leadership to "confer with relevant offices" when additional DEI expertise is needed. In addition to the amended scientific integrity policy, the Biden administration also took other steps to infuse DEI into the scientific process throughout its term. This included compelling scientists seeking to work with the NIH to submit statements expressing their commitment to DEI, including when seeking certain grant funding for research projects. "The Biden administration weaponized NIH's scientific integrity policy to inject harmful DEI and gender ideology into research," said Health and Human Services Department spokesperson, Andrew Nixon. "Rescinding this [scientific integrity] policy will allow NIH to restore science to its golden standard and protect the integrity of science." Hhs Employees Offered $25K As 'Incentive To Voluntarily Separate' According to an HHS source, during the Biden administration, a member of NIH's DEI office was placed on every search committee for scientists and leadership. The source also noted that under Biden, scientists who submitted work to the NIH's "Board of Scientific Counselors," which oversees agency research, were also required to include a statement pledging their commitment to DEI. Read On The Fox News App The Biden administration also funded grants related to DEI, such as one for roughly $165,000 that was focused on "queering the curriculum" for family medicine doctors to guide them in their treatment of transgender patients. A similar project sought to use taxpayer funds from NIH to instruct nurses on the standards of care from the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH). Millions Spent By Biden On Covid 'Vaccine Hesitancy' Campaign Slashed By Trump Nih: Report WPATH's standards of care for transgender patients, which support the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-reassignment surgery for minors, have been rebuked globally. One controversial part of WPATH's guidelines is the inclusion of "enuch" as a valid gender-identity. Several European countries, such as the U.K., Sweden and Finland, have taken steps to steer clear of the treatment modalities suggested by WPATH. Trump Admin Planning To Consolidate Hiv Programs, Slashing 'Overhead' And Dei: Official Under Biden, the NIH also brought DEI activist Ibram Kendi to speak with more than 1,200 staff members about "anti-racism." In a recap of the 2022 speech, the NIH pointed out how Kendi "states unequivocally" that "policies are either racist or antiracist." The Trump administration's move to rescind the Biden-era scientific integrity policy follows other actions taken to extinguish DEI programs from the public and private sectors, calling such initiatives a civil rights violation. In addition to slashing DEI programs at the NIH, Trump has also moved to slim down its workforce. Shortly after he took office, the president implemented a funding cap for facilities and administrative fees associated with NIH research to help clear room for additional article source: Trump rescinds Biden-era policy declaring DEI an 'integral' part of scientific process
CBS News
08-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Former top NOAA scientist under Trump issues a "Sharpie-gate" warning
The former top government scientist during President Trump's first term in office has a cautionary tale to tell about the politicization of science. It involves Neil Jacobs, Mr. Trump's nominee to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Jacobs, who led the agency on an acting basis during Mr. Trump's first term, was reprimanded for ethics violations in what became known as "Sharpie-gate" — when the president held up a hurricane forecast map with black marker appearing to extend the storm's potential path into Alabama. Craig McLean served during Mr. Trump's first term as acting chief scientist of NOAA, which monitors the health of the oceans and the warming of the climate, and runs the National Weather Service, which issues weather warnings. In his first interview, McLean told CBS News many scientists "are worried about President Donald Trump's return to office — after he undermined science in his first term." "Folks realize that they may be in for a storm," said McLean. McLean said he feels that way partly because of what happened in early September 2019. The National Weather Service said a storm, Hurricane Dorian, would move up the Atlantic coast. Mr. Trump tweeted that Alabama was in the storm's path. It wasn't. Twenty minutes later, the National Weather Service in Alabama accurately tweeted, "Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian." Three days later in front of cameras, Mr. Trump held up a week-old map that was altered with a black marker to portray the hurricane's path as if it had initially been headed for Alabama, as he tweeted. "That was the original chart," Mr. Trump said. "It was going to hit not only Georgia but Florida. It was going toward the Gulf." The controversy became known as "Sharpie-gate." Two days later, without McLean's knowledge, the leadership at NOAA released a statement backing Mr. Trump and criticizing the work of the weather forecasters. "To have a political process unplug the public's trust, that got me stirred," McLean said. "That gave me a sense of rage." McLean demanded investigations. According to a report by a panel of the National Academy of Public Administration for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General report about the incident, the investigations concluded that the statement backing Mr. Trump was "driven by external political pressure," through a "request from the White House then-Acting Chief of Staff," and that Jacobs, the head of NOAA who has been nominated again, "violated the Code of Ethics for Science Supervision and Management set forth in Section 7.01 of NOAA's Scientific Integrity Policy when they failed to engage the Birmingham WFO in the development of the September 6 Statement." The National Academy report said: "Further, the Panel finds that they engaged in misconduct intentionally, knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the Code of Scientific Conduct or Code of Ethics for Science Supervision and Management in NOAA's Scientific Integrity Policy." According to the inspector general report, Jacobs felt pressured. "In Dr. Jacobs's view, he could make the statement more accurate, but the Department would issue, or would cause NOAA to issue, a statement one way or another," the report said. "If he resigned or were fired, he reasoned, the final statement likely would have been worse and more inflammatory." CBS News reached out to Jacobs for comment, but has not yet received a response. A spokesperson for NOAA said it does not comment on nominations and has no contact with nominees until they are confirmed. McLean requested NOAA's top leaders acknowledge the investigative findings. Shortly after, he was relieved of his position. McLean stayed on with NOAA, in another position, and eventually retired. McLean has a stark message about hurricane warnings. "People's lives are on the line," McLean said. But NOAA's science is about more than hurricane warnings. It underpins how corporations and insurance companies predict the ever-growing risks of climate disasters and helps farmers choose the best time to plant as weather patterns shift. Project 2025, which has served as a roadmap for the new administration, calls on Mr. Trump to "break up NOAA." The White House did not reply to questions sent by CBS News. During nomination hearings for Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump's pick to lead the Commerce Department — which oversees NOAA, Lutnick said he does not support breaking up NOAA. Project 2025 claims NOAA is "one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry." McLean said there's cause for alarm. "We're required by law to give the full picture, and if there's a reason to not be alarmist, what is that," McLean said. "What we're seeing is alarming, is very alarming."
