Retaliation against government scientists
Retaliation against government scientists includes the firing, demotion, reassignment, gagging, or public denunciation of career scientific staff whose findings inconvenience leadership. Concrete forms include reassignment of scientists to roles unrelated to their expertise, prohibition on speaking publicly about published research, removal from authorship of agency publications, and the targeted elimination of positions held by scientists who have raised concerns through proper channels. The standard is the linkage between the adverse action and the substance of the scientist's work.
Documented entries (3)
2025
USDA cancelled 30-year Household Food Security Report; placed ERS researchers on leave for disclosing decision
The U.S. Department of Agriculture cancelled its annual Household Food Security Report — the federal government's primary 30-year measure of hunger and food insecurity — on September 22, 2025, and then placed approximately a dozen Economic Research Service economists, researchers, supervisors, and administrators on indefinite paid administrative leave, citing an "unauthorized disclosure." The employees placed on leave were among those present at meetings where the decision to cancel the report was discussed. The report had been used annually since 1995 by policymakers, academics, and advocates to evaluate federal nutrition programs including SNAP, WIC, and school meals.
Trump fired BLS Commissioner McEntarfer hours after weak jobs report, accusing her without evidence of rigging data
On August 1, 2025, President Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer via Truth Social hours after BLS released a jobs report showing only 73,000 nonfarm jobs added in July, below market expectations. Trump publicly accused McEntarfer of manipulating the data "to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad," despite the fact that commissioners do not produce employment estimates and McEntarfer did not see the report until shortly before its public release. McEntarfer had been confirmed 86-0 by the Senate, including then-Senator JD Vance, and was serving a statutory four-year term.
EPA eliminated Office of Research and Development, laid off up to 1,155 scientists in 23% workforce cut
On July 18, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the elimination of the agency's Office of Research and Development — the scientific foundation underlying every federal air, water, and chemical safety standard for 55 years — and a reduction of more than 3,700 total EPA positions (nearly 23%). As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, and toxicologists received reduction-in-force notices. The administration said it would replace ORD with an "Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions" subordinated to deregulatory program offices.