How the White House Lost Its Brains: virtually no science advisers on staff
"Four months into office, President Donald Trump has failed to appoint even a single person to a senior level science council, marking the first time in recent history that the White House is without a team of top technical advisors. The last time was when Richard Nixon fired his science advisors for giving him advice he didn’t like and failing to support his missile defense program.
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Currently known as the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the panel typically consists of high-level academics, technologists, and other experts, who take time out of their jobs to advise the president on issues ranging from cybersecurity to nuclear physics, in both classified and unclassified reports and meetings.
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One scientist serving the administration says he sees no indication there will be a new council of advisors, a sentiment backed up by former members of the panel. The current Office of Science and Technology Policy website does not mention the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, one former panel member told Foreign Policy. “From what I’ve heard, there are no plans to reconstitute the office,” the former advisor, who requested anonymity to comment freely, said.
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Most notable is the lack of a director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy, a scientist who normally, though not always, reports directly to the president. The office is authorized to have five presidential appointees and up to four office directors; none of those positions have been filled."
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/30/how-the-white-house-lost-its-brains/
"Both of these groups are meant to give the president an ear to leading scientific expertise. In the past, they’ve advised presidents on issues as diverse as biomedical research, cybersecurity, the emergence of infectious disease, nuclear policy, and, yes, climate science. (Not to mention, there are vacancies in many other science-related federal agencies: Trump has yet to appoint a new director of the CDC, for one. And you’ll recall he fired the surgeon general.)
Trump has assembled a business advisory council, a group of civilian executives who have the president’s ear. Tesla-SpaceX founder Elon Musk is on it. But it seems like the president is poised to dismiss his concerns.
(Musk also sits on the president’s Manufacturing Job Initiative council, and reports he’ll vacate both seats if Trump goes through with pulling out of the climate agreement.)
And know: The impact of not having scientists close to the White House stretches further than the topic of climate change. On a recent press call, Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said there “have been very limited conversations” with regards to Trump decision-making on the federal budget and the scientific community. That budget document slashed billions away from medical research that saves lives and invigorates the economy (among other potentially devastating cuts to scientific research across the government)."
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/5/31/15719870/trump-climate-science-advisers-paris
Yet another throwback to Nixon times - the quote from a White House staffer at the time was “Who in the hell do these science bastards think they are?”
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