Senate Introduces Scientific Integrity Act to Protect Public Health, Science

"Science allows us to understand the world," said Jennifer Jones, the director for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "If we ignore that understanding, we can't recognize or solve problems. Protecting scientific integrity means protecting our ability to make informed decisions that benefit everyone.

From public health threats to environmental risks, science enables policymakers to understand complex changes and create policies that address them. It also maintains democratic accountability, allowing people to examine evidence behind policy decisions and ensure they are created in the best interest of the public.

Since the start of Trump's second term, there have been more than 562 attacks on science. Approximately 33% of those attacks- including political interference in scientific studies, censorship of federal scientists, disbanding advisory committees of experts, and restricting the use of key public health data- are potential scientific integrity violations.

These attacks have had concerning impacts:

• At the beginning of 2025, the Trump administration delayed a CDC report showing how bird flu was spreading across the country.

• In August 2025, the administration's Office of the Director of National Intelligence eliminated the group responsible for publishing the Global Trends report, which lays out the challenges the United States and the world might face in coming decades. Consequently, the report was blocked, which left a massive gap in intelligence.

• Over the past year and a half, the federal government has blocked the publication of multiple studies proving the safety of Covid and shingles vaccines, which is part of a pattern of spreading disinformation and suppressing scientific reports.

Protections for federal scientists against politicization have been removed from federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency. At the same time, the administration's so-called "gold standard science" initiative has directed agencies to replace career staffers responsible for maintaining scientific integrity with political officials. The continued barrage of attacks on science signals that these threats to science will continue.

"This legislation is about protecting people," said Jones. "At a time when science is under increasing pressure, passing the Scientific Integrity Act would ensure public health and safety come first."

The Scientific Integrity Act would codify protections against censorship, manipulation and politically motivated findings that currently rely on executive and agency-level decisions. It would also require federal agencies that make decisions impacting public health, education, and the environment to reinstate scientific integrity policies or retain policies already in place. That enshrining of scientific integrity policies would make agencies less vulnerable to political shifts, help prevent conflicts of interest and hold scientists to the highest standards.

"Scientific integrity is a cornerstone of effective governance," according to Jones. "Policies informed by science have led to major advances in public health and safety - reducing pollution, preventing disease, strengthening infrastructure and preparing communities for disasters."

The Scientific Integrity Acts safeguards federal science and ensuring it serves the public good.

"Amid these antidemocratic efforts to sideline evidence, misrepresent scientific findings and elevate political ideology over fact, the need for strong, enforceable protections for science could not be clearer," said Jones.