Restoring Gold Standard Science

               By the authority vested in me as President by the 
               Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
               America, including section 7301 of title 5, United 
               States Code, it is hereby ordered:

               Section 1. Policy and Purpose. Over the last 5 years, 
               confidence that scientists act in the best interests of 
               the public has fallen significantly. A majority of 
               researchers in science, technology, engineering, and 
               mathematics believe science is facing a reproducibility 
               crisis. The falsification of data by leading 
               researchers has led to high-profile retractions of 
               federally funded research.

               Unfortunately, the Federal Government has contributed 
               to this loss of trust. In several notable cases, 
               executive departments and agencies (agencies) have used 
               or promoted scientific information in a highly 
               misleading manner. For example, under the prior 
               Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and 
               Prevention issued COVID-19 guidance on reopening 
               schools that incorporated edits by the American 
               Federation of Teachers and was understood to discourage 
               in-person learning. This guidance's restrictive and 
               burdensome reopening conditions led many schools to 
               remain at least partially closed, resulting in 
               substantial negative effects on educational outcomes--
               even though the best available scientific evidence 
               showed that children were unlikely to transmit or 
               suffer serious illness or death from the virus, and 
               that opening schools with reasonable mitigation 
               measures would have only minor effects on transmission.

               The National Marine Fisheries Service justified a 
               biological opinion by adopting an admitted ``worst-case 
               scenario'' projection of the North Atlantic right whale 
               population that it believed was ``very likely'' wrong. 
               The agency's proposed actions could have destroyed the 
               historic Maine lobster fishery. The D.C. Circuit Court 
               of Appeals subsequently overturned that opinion because 
               the agency's decision to seek out the worst-case 
               scenario skewed its approach to the evidence.

               Similarly, agencies have used Representative 
               Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenario 8.5 to assess the 
               potential effects of climate change in a ``higher'' 
               warming scenario. RCP 8.5 is a worst-case scenario 
               based on highly unlikely assumptions like end-of-
               century coal use exceeding estimates of recoverable 
               coal reserves. Scientists have warned that presenting 
               RCP 8.5 as a likely outcome is misleading.

               Actions taken by the prior Administration further 
               politicized science, for example, by encouraging 
               agencies to incorporate diversity, equity, and 
               inclusion considerations into all aspects of science 
               planning, execution, and communication. 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.

               My Administration is committed to restoring a gold 
               standard for science to ensure that federally funded 
               research is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, and 
               that Federal decisions are informed by the most 
               credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence 
               available. 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. Reproducibility, rigor, and unbiased peer 
               review must be maintained. This order restores the 
               scientific integrity policies of my first 
               Administration and ensures
               that agencies practice data transparency, acknowledge 
               relevant scientific uncertainties, are transparent 
               about the assumptions and likelihood of scenarios used, 
               approach scientific findings objectively, and 
               communicate scientific data accurately. Agency use of 
               Gold Standard Science, as set forth in this order, will 
               spur innovation, translate discovery to success, and 
               ensure continued American strength and global 
               leadership in technology.

               Sec. 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:

                   (a) ``Employee'' has the meaning given that term in 
               5 U.S.C. 2105.
                   (b) ``Scientific information'' means factual 
               inputs, data, models, analyses, technical information, 
               or scientific assessments related to such disciplines 
               as the behavioral and social sciences, public health 
               and medical sciences, life and earth sciences, 
               engineering, physical sciences, or probability and 
               statistics. This includes any communication or 
               representation of knowledge such as facts or data, in 
               any medium or form, including textual, numerical, 
               graphic, cartographic, narrative, or audiovisual forms.
                   (c) ``Scientific misconduct'' means fabrication, 
               falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, 
               reviewing, or reporting the results of scientific 
               research, but does not include honest error or 
               differences of opinion. For the purposes of this 
               definition:

(i) ``fabrication'' is making up data or results and recording or reporting 
them;

(ii) ``falsification'' is manipulating research materials, equipment, or 
processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research 
is not accurately represented in the research record; and

(iii) ``plagiarism'' is the appropriation of another person's ideas, 
processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.

                   (d) ``Senior appointee'' means an individual 
               appointed by the President (or an individual performing 
               the functions and duties of an individual appointed by 
               the President) or a non-career member of the Senior 
               Executive Service.
                   (e) ``Weight of scientific evidence'' means an 
               approach to scientific evaluation in which each piece 
               of relevant information is considered based on its 
               quality and relevance, and then transparently 
               integrated with other relevant information to inform 
               the scientific evaluation prior to making a judgment 
               about the scientific evaluation. Quality and relevance 
               determinations, at a minimum, should include 
               consideration of study design, fitness for purpose, 
               replicability, peer review, and transparency and 
               reliability of data.

               Sec. 3. Restoring Gold Standard Science. (a) Within 30 
               days of the date of this order, the Director of the 
               Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP Director) 
               shall, in consultation with the heads of relevant 
               agencies, issue guidance for agencies on implementation 
               of ``Gold Standard Science'' in the conduct and 
               management of their respective scientific activities. 
               For the purposes of this order, Gold Standard Science 
               means science conducted in a manner that is:

(i) reproducible;

(ii) transparent;

(iii) communicative of error and uncertainty;

(iv) collaborative and interdisciplinary;

(v) skeptical of its findings and assumptions;

(vi) structured for falsifiability of hypotheses;

(vii) subject to unbiased peer review;

(viii) accepting of negative results as positive outcomes; and

(ix) without conflicts of interest.

                   (b) Upon publication of the guidance prescribed in 
               subsection (a), each agency head, as necessary and 
               appropriate and in consultation with the
               Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB 
               Director) and the OSTP Director, shall promptly update 
               applicable agency policies governing the production and 
               use of scientific information, including scientific 
               integrity policies, to implement the OSTP Director's 
               guidance on Gold Standard Science and ensure that 
               agency scientific activities are conducted in 
               accordance with this order.
                   (c) Each agency head shall, to the extent 
               practicable, incorporate the OSTP Director's guidance 
               on Gold Standard Science and the requirements of this 
               order into the processes by which their agency 
               conducts, manages, interprets, communicates, and uses 
               scientific or technological information prior to the 
               finalization of the updated policies under this 
               section.
                   (d) Within 60 days of the publication of the 
               guidance prescribed in section 3(a), agency heads shall 
               report to the OSTP Director on the actions taken to 
               implement Gold Standard Science at their agency.

               Sec. 4. Improving the Use, Interpretation, and 
               Communication of Scientific Data. No later than 30 days 
               after the date of this order, agency heads and 
               employees shall adhere to the following rules governing 
               the use, interpretation, and communication of 
               scientific data, unless otherwise provided by law:

                   (a) Employees shall not engage in scientific 
               misconduct nor knowingly rely on information resulting 
               from scientific misconduct.
                   (b) Except as prohibited by law, and consistent 
               with relevant policies that protect national security 
               or sensitive personal or confidential business 
               information, agency heads shall in a timely manner and, 
               to the extent practicable and within the agency's 
               authority:

(i) subject to paragraph (ii), make publicly available the following 
information within the agency's possession:

 (A) the data, analyses, and conclusions associated with scientific and 
technological information produced or used by the agency that the agency 
reasonably assesses will have a clear and substantial effect on important 
public policies or important private sector decisions (influential 
scientific information), including data cited in peer-reviewed literature; 
and

 (B) the models and analyses (including, as applicable, the source code 
for such models) the agency used to generate such influential scientific 
information. Employees may not invoke exemption 5 to the Freedom of 
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5)) to prevent disclosure of such models 
unless authorized in writing to do so by the agency head following prior 
notice to the OSTP Director.

(ii) risk models used to guide agency enforcement actions or select 
enforcement targets are not information that must be disclosed under this 
subsection.

                   (c) When using scientific information in agency 
               decision-making, employees shall transparently 
               acknowledge and document uncertainties, including how 
               uncertainty propagates throughout any models used in 
               the analysis.
                   (d) Where employees produce or use scientific 
               information to inform policy or legal determinations 
               they must use science that comports with the legal 
               standards applicable to those determinations, including 
               when agencies evaluate the realistic or reasonably 
               foreseeable effects of an action.
                   (e) Employees shall be transparent about the 
               likelihood of the assumptions and scenarios used. 
               Highly unlikely and overly precautionary assumptions 
               and scenarios should only be relied upon in agency 
               decision-making where required by law or otherwise 
               pertinent to the agency's action.
                   (f) When scientific or technological information is 
               used to inform agency evaluations and subsequent 
               decision-making, employees shall apply a ``weight of 
               scientific evidence'' approach.
                   (g) Employees' communication of scientific 
               information shall be consistent with the results of the 
               relevant analysis and evaluation and, to the extent
               that uncertainty is present, the degree of uncertainty 
               should be communicated. Communications involving a 
               scientific model or information derived from a 
               scientific model should include reference to any 
               material assumptions that inform the model's outputs.
                   (h) Once the guidance on Gold Standard Science is 
               established and promulgated pursuant to section 3 of 
               this order, it shall, among other things, form the 
               basis for employees' evaluation of all scientific and 
               technological information called for in this order 
               except where otherwise required by law.

               Sec. 5. Interim Scientific Integrity Policies. (a) 
               Until the issuance of updated agency scientific 
               integrity policies pursuant to section 3 of this order, 
               and except where required by law:

(i) scientific integrity policies in each agency shall be governed by the 
scientific integrity policies that existed within the executive branch on 
January 19, 2021, except that in the event of a conflict between such 
policies and the policies and requirements of this order, the policies and 
requirements of this order control; and

(ii) agency heads shall take all necessary actions to reevaluate and, where 
necessary, revise or rescind scientific integrity policies or procedures, 
or amendments to such policies or procedures, issued between January 20, 
2021, and January 20, 2025.

(iii) each agency head shall promptly revoke any organizational or 
operational changes, designations, or documents that were issued or enacted 
pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of January 27, 2021 (Restoring 
Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based 
Policymaking), which was revoked pursuant to Executive Order 14154 and 
shall conduct applicable agency operations in the manner and revert 
applicable agency organization to the same form as would have existed in 
the absence of such changes, designations, or documents.

                   (b) In updating applicable scientific integrity 
               policies pursuant to section 3 of this order, agencies 
               should ensure they:

(i) encourage the open exchange of ideas;

(ii) provide for consideration of different or dissenting viewpoints; and

(iii) protect employees from efforts to prevent or deter consideration of 
alternative scientific opinions.

                   (c) Agencies, unless prohibited by law, shall 
               review agency actions taken between January 20, 2021, 
               and January 20, 2025, including regulations, guidance 
               documents, policies, and scientific evaluations and 
               take all appropriate steps, consistent with law, to 
               ensure alignment with the policies and requirements of 
               this order.

               Sec. 6. Scope and Applicability. (a) The policies and 
               rules set forth in this order apply to all employees 
               involved in the generation, use, interpretation, or 
               communication of scientific information, regardless of 
               job classification, and to all agency decision-making, 
               except where precluded by law.

                   (b) Agency heads and employees shall, to the extent 
               practicable and consistent with applicable law, require 
               agency contractors to adhere to these policies and 
               rules as though they were agency employees.
                   (c) The policies and rules set forth in this order 
               govern the use of science that informs agency decisions 
               but they are not applicable to non-scientific aspects 
               of agency decision-making.

               Sec. 7. Enforcement and Oversight. (a) Each agency head 
               shall establish internal processes to evaluate alleged 
               violations of the requirements of this order and other 
               applicable agency policies governing the generation, 
               use, interpretation, and communication of scientific 
               information. Such processes shall be the 
               responsibility, and administered under the direction, 
               of a senior appointee designated by the agency head and 
               shall provide for taking appropriate measures to 
               correct scientific information in response to 
               violations, consistent with the requirements and 
               procedures of section 515 of the statute
               commonly known as the Information Quality Act, Public 
               Law 106-554, appendix C (114 Stat. 2763A-153). The 
               designated senior appointee may also forward potential 
               violations to the relevant human resources officials 
               for discipline to the extent the potential violation 
               also violates applicable agency policies and 
               procedures. The designated senior appointee may consult 
               appropriate officials with scientific expertise when 
               establishing such processes.

                   (b) The processes created under this section are, 
               unless otherwise required by applicable law, the sole 
               and exclusive means of evaluating and, as applicable, 
               addressing alleged violations of this order and other 
               agency policies governing the use, interpretation, and 
               communication of scientific information.

               Sec. 8. Waivers. (a) An agency head may request in 
               writing that the OMB Director, in consultation with the 
               OSTP Director, waive any of the requirements of this 
               order for good cause shown. Such request must explain 
               how the requested waiver is consistent with the 
               policies and purposes of this order.

                   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
               order, the policies and requirements of this order 
               shall apply to agency actions that pertain to foreign 
               or military affairs, or to a national security or 
               homeland security function of the United States, only 
               to the extent that the applicable agency head, in his 
               or her sole and exclusive discretion, determines they 
               should apply.

               Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
               shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                   (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
               applicable law and subject to the availability of 
               appropriations.
                   (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
               create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
               enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
               the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
               entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
               other person.
                   (d) The Office of Management and Budget shall 
               provide funding for publication of this order in the 
               Federal Register.
               
                DONALD J. TRUMP

               THE WHITE HOUSE,

                   May 23, 2025.