Checklist: Presidential Recommendations 2020

The document outlines a series of recommendations for the next U.S. president to reverse the effects of the Trump administration's 'unprecedented attacks on science'. It proposes concrete actions across six key areas: promoting science-based decision-making, strengthening scientific integrity, enforcing transparency, addressing conflicts of interest, safeguarding government scientists, and fostering public participation. Additionally, it suggests protecting democratic processes through campaign finance and voting rights reforms to reduce 'moneyed influence' in government. The author argues that failing to restore independent science risks increased pollution, poor emergency response, and threats to public health and safety.

• The document argues that the Trump administration undermined scientific integrity by sidelining experts, censoring scientists, and suppressing federal reports, creating a 'chilling environment' that led to self-censorship among federal scientists.
• To restore science-based decision-making, the next president is urged to appoint chief science officers in all science agencies, fill open science positions per the Vacancy Reform Act, and rescind the Executive Order that required agencies to disband one-third of their committees.
• The checklist recommends enhancing transparency by ensuring government websites are not politically censored, presuming openness under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and requiring scientific integrity officials to issue annual public reports on policy violations.
• The document proposes safeguarding government scientists by expanding the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) and preventing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from interfering in agency scientific work.
• The author links the integrity of scientific governance to the protection of democratic processes, recommending the passage of the For the People Act, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Fair Representation Act, alongside crackdowns on 'dark money'.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2020). Checklist: Presidential Recommendations 2020. https://www.ucs.org/resources/checklist-presidential-recommendations-2020

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Checklist: Presidential Recommendations 2020. 2020. https://www.ucs.org/resources/checklist-presidential-recommendations-2020.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Checklist: Presidential Recommendations 2020 |date=29 January 2020 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/checklist-presidential-recommendations-2020 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2020checklist, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Checklist: Presidential Recommendations 2020}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/checklist-presidential-recommendations-2020}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }