Executive Order/Action
Executive Order/Action
President Trump Executive Actions
Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here): Find COSSA’s full list of Trump’s Executive Actions and more information here or on the Social Science Space Tracker.
Trump Administration launches AI-focused āGenesis Missionā
On November 24, the White House issued an executive order (EO), Launching the Genesis Mission. It is the latest action by the Trump Administration seeking to establish American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI). Genesis Mission, according to the EO, will āunleash a new age of AI-accelerated innovation and discoveryā by ā[building] an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasetsāthe worldās largest collection of such datasets, developed over decades of Federal investmentsāto train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.ā The Department of Energy (DOE) is tasked with implementing the mission with…
Latest from the White House (September 16)
Federal Agencies Issue Gold Standard Science Implementation Plans As previously reported, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) in May on Restoring Gold Standard Science, which aims to address what the Administration sees as a āreproducibility crisisā caused by āfalsification of dataā and āhighly misleading research.ā As part of the order, federal science agencies were given until August 22 to develop implementation plans for ensuring compliance with guidance provided by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in June. In response, federal science agencies have publicly posted their implementation plans. While each addressed the Gold Standard EO differently, they all…
Latest from the White House (September 2)
Executive Order Seeks to Mandate Political Review of Grant Awards On August 7, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) on Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking. This is a sweeping order that seeks to place several new requirements on federal grantmaking agencies, including science agencies. The EO states, āEvery tax dollar the Government spends should improve American lives or advance American interests. This often does not happen.ā It continues, āā¦the best proposals do not always receive funding, and there is too much unfocused research of marginal social utility.ā [emphasis added] In response, the EO calls for each federal grantmaking agency to create…
Latest from the White House (July 22)
President Trump Establishes New āSchedule Gā Federal Worker Classification On July 17, President Trump issued an executive order (EO), Creating Schedule G in the Excepted Service, which seeks to create a new employee classification within the federal workforce. This effort comes on the heels of the Trump Administrationās addition of a new āSchedule Policy/Careerā classification, making it easier to terminate certain career (or non-political) federal employees whose positions are āpolicy-influencingā (see previous coverage). According to a White House fact sheet: āCreating Schedule G fills [a] gap and facilitates appointments of non-career federal employees who will serve temporarily and implement the policy…
Latest from the White House (July 8)
Additional Guidance on āGold Standard Scienceā As previously reported, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) in May on Restoring Gold Standard Science. On June 23, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum to federal agencies providing additional guidance on how to comply with the order. Federal agencies are directed to report to OSTP on steps taken to comply with the EO by August 22. A primary criticism of the EO and accompanying guidance has less to do with the order itselfāwhich focuses on reproducibility, transparency, unbiased peer review, and other common research tenetsāand more to do with its calling for…
NIH Suspends Gain of Function Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a notice to inform the biomedical research community of a termination of funding for gain-of-function research outside of the U.S. and a suspension of funding for any other projects or programs relating to gain-of-function research. Gain-of-function research has been a point of contention for many Congressional Republicans since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the research (see previous COSSA coverage). The notice, which was prompted by a guidance to NIH by the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), is in-line with the Administrationās Executive Order (EO) on Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research,…
Bhattacharya Defends NIH Budget Request to Senate Appropriators
As the Congressional appropriations process continues, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was invited to defend the Presidentās FY 2026 before the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations subcommittee (see COSSAās analysis). Under the Presidentās budget, the NIH would see steep budget cuts and a major restructuring that would reduce the institutes and centers (ICs) from 27 to 8. Throughout the hearing, Bhattacharya fielded questions on the impacts of these proposals on the research community and dismissed concerns, claiming that the proposal is the starting point of a budget…
Congress Begins FY 26 Appropriations; Reconciliation Remains Uncertain
Following a brief recess for Memorial Day, Congress has returned ready to tackle both budget reconciliation and fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations. As previously reported by COSSA, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1) passed through the House in a 215-214 vote in late May, sending the tax policy package to the Senate. Many members of the Senate have since indicated that the bill would likely see many changes before passing their chamber, and, more recently, House Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), have come out against the bill, expressing regret for having voted for it. Despite Speaker Mike Johnsonās (R-LA) self-imposed…
President Trump Issues EO to Restore ‘Gold Standard in Science’
On May 23, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO), Restoring Gold Standard Science. The EO indicates that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research is facing a āreproducibility crisisā which the order claims is a result of researchers’ āfalsification of dataā and the Federal Agencies publication of āhighly misleadingā research. The EO also took aim at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that āfurther politicized science,ā aligning with previous EOās dismantling similar policies (see previous COSSA coverage). The Trump Administration has tasked the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to issue guidance for agencies on the…
Latest from the White House (April 29)
COSSA continues to follow the flurry of executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here. DOGE Arrives at NSF Earlier this month, the Presidentās so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the group led by Elon Musk, arrived at the National Science Foundation (NSF). A chain of serious events followed their visit, underscoring the power bestowed on DOGE to upend existing agency operations. The team of DOGE officials arrived at NSF on April…
Latest from the White House (April 1)
COSSA continues to follow the flurry of executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here. Eliminating the Department of Education As promised on the campaign trail, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) on March 20 that instructs the Education Secretary to begin the process of closing the U.S. Department of Education. The order, Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities, directs the Secretary to āfacilitate the closure of…
Latest from the White House (March 18)
COSSA continues to follow the flurry of executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here. Trump Eliminates Agencies On March 14, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO), Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, which eliminates several agencies āto the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,ā including the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), among others. The Woodrow Wilson International Center…
Latest from the White House (March 4)
COSSA continues to report on executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here. āRadical Transparencyā About Wasteful Spending As previously reported by COSSA, the Trump Administration has prioritized cutting āgovernment wasteā in the first six weeks of his term. On February 18, an Executive Order (EO) was published titled, Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending in which the Administration directs federal agencies to make public āthe complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract,…
Latest from the White House (February 18)
As previously reported, the Trump Administration has from day one been issuing a dizzying number of executive actions, some whose legality remain in question. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Federal Workforce Last week, as part of an Executive Order on āworkforce optimization,ā the Presidentās Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to fire ātrial and probationaryā employees, providing little other guidance on how to do it. Typically, probationary employees are those within 1-3 years of service in their position. Democratic lawmakers and government worker unions are pushing back, arguing the long-term damage that…
President Trump Rescinds Executive Orders Impacting Executive Personnel Ethics Commitments and Census Parameters
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14148 rescinding a series of āHarmful Executive Orders and Actionsā of the Biden Administration, including provisions affecting federal ethics and the census count. President Bidenās Executive Order 13989 required every executive agency appointee to sign an ethics pledge. This commitment prohibited appointeesā connections with lobbyist activities such as receiving gifts and leveraging the ārevolving doorā status of their position to later secure more favorable private and foreign job prospects, until at least two years after their service. Revoking these guidelines, Trump has aligned with his first-term actions, having issued his own 2017 Ethics Commitments before removing those…
Trump Signs Executive Order Dismantling DEI Initiatives in Federal Agencies
On January 21, President Trump signed the Executive Order (EO), Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. The EO makes bold claims that the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts of past administrations violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through adopting ādangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferencesā that have hindered opportunity for certain groups. This EO has resulted in a massive scale back of DEI initiatives across the federal agencies and the optional scale back of DEI initiatives across U.S. businesses. The directive requires federal agencies to place all federal DEI staff on paid leave with the intent of being…
Executive Action Affecting Federal Agencies
Since President Trump was sworn into office on January 20, several executive actions have been taken that have impacted social and behavioral science (SBS) research, including freezes on hiring federal workers and requiring federal workers to return to the office, a halt on all communications, spending, and travel within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and a memorandum from the White House Office of Budget and Management (OMB) instituting a freeze on federal spending across agencies that was rescinded two days later. As previously reported by COSSA, President Trump signed two Executive Orders (EO) implementing a hiring freeze…
Census Bureau Director Rob Santos Tenders Resignation
On January 30, Census Bureau Director Robert Santos resigned three years into his five-year term. His resignation comes after the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the Census Bureau on December 5 which largely focused on whether the 2030 Census should include a citizenship question and President Trumpās recent rescission of the Biden Administrationās Executive Order (EO) affirming that the census should count all people, not only citizens, as per the 14th Amendment (see previous COSSA coverage). As a reminder, during his first-term, the Trump Administration attempted to add a citizenship question to the decennial census only for the Supreme Court to…
President Trump Signs First-Day Executive Orders to End Work from Home Policies and Freeze Hiring for Federal Work Force
On January 20, President Trump, in a series of first-day executive actions, signed an Executive Order (EO) titled “Return to In-Person Work” that requires all federal workers to return to in-person work āas soon as practicableā. This decision comes after the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on The Stay-at-Home Federal Workforce: Another Biden-Harris Legacy on January 15 to investigate the implications of the federal work from home policy. During the hearing, Republican members of the committee expressed concerns that federal policies like the work from home policy were infringing on the power of the Presidential Administration, a concern that has been…