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EO 14303Executive OrderTrump 47 · R Quiet signal

Executive Order 14303

Restoring Gold Standard Science

This executive order mandates federal agencies adopt 'Gold Standard Science' principles—reproducibility, transparency, uncertainty acknowledgment, and unbiased peer review—in all scientific activities. It requires public data disclosure for influential scientific information, revokes Biden-era scientific integrity policies and organizational changes from January 2021, and installs senior appointees to enforce compliance, with broad exemptions for national security matters at agency discretion.

Federal Register Open PDF 90 FR 22601

Impact dates

  1. Agency heads report implementation actions to OSTP Director

  2. Agency heads update scientific integrity policies upon guidance publication

  3. OSTP Director issues Gold Standard Science guidance

  4. Agency heads and employees adhere to data use/communication rules

Key directives

  • OSTP Director issues Gold Standard Science guidance within 30 days of May 23, 2025
  • Agency heads update scientific integrity policies upon guidance publication
  • Agency heads report implementation actions to OSTP Director within 60 days of guidance publication
  • Public disclosure of data, analyses, models, and source code for influential scientific information
  • Employees prohibited from invoking FOIA exemption 5 for model disclosure without agency head authorization
  • Transparent acknowledgment of uncertainties and scenario likelihoods in decision-making
  • Weight of scientific evidence approach mandated
  • Revocation of organizational changes from January 27, 2021 memorandum
  • Reevaluation and revision/rescission of scientific integrity policies issued January 20, 2021–January 20, 2025
  • Review and alignment of agency actions from January 20, 2021–January 20, 2025
  • Senior appointee designated to administer violation evaluation processes
  • Waiver requests to OMB Director with OSTP consultation

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • OSTP Director must issue Gold Standard Science guidance within 30 days
  • Agency heads and employees must begin adhering to data use/communication rules within 30 days
  • Agency heads must revoke organizational changes from January 27, 2021 memorandum
  • Interim scientific integrity policies revert to January 19, 2021 status

Near term (90d)

  • Agency heads must report to OSTP Director on implementation actions within 60 days of guidance publication
  • Agency heads must update scientific integrity policies upon guidance publication
  • Agencies must review and align actions from January 20, 2021–January 20, 2025 with order requirements

Long term

  • Structural shift in federal scientific decision-making toward senior appointee oversight
  • Potential revision or rescission of regulations, guidance, and scientific evaluations from prior administration
  • Changes to agency enforcement target risk models and climate/energy policy baselines

Risks & tensions

  • Vague 'Gold Standard' criteria create enforcement ambiguity; senior appointee-led processes may politicize scientific integrity findings
  • Broad national security/homeland security exemption at sole agency head discretion substantially limits order scope
  • Mandatory public data/model disclosure may conflict with existing peer review confidentiality norms and international research collaborations
  • Retroactive review of 2021–2025 agency actions creates regulatory uncertainty and potential litigation
  • Order explicitly frames prior administration science as politically compromised, risking perceived partisan weaponization of scientific integrity processes
  • 'Weight of scientific evidence' and 'realistic or reasonably foreseeable' standards may shift environmental and health regulatory thresholds
Executive Order 14303: Restoring Gold Standard Science · Executive Orders