House Dems demand answers on USGS science cuts

They want to know about the elimination of a scientific integrity advisory panel and terminations of employees.

March 27, 2025

House Democrats are now amplifying their alarm about the Interior Department's firing of some U.S. Geological Survey scientists and abrupt elimination of a newly established scientific integrity advisory panel.

In a pointed letter sent Wednesday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, 32 Democratic lawmakers demanded answers and reinforced their expression of "deep concern" with a set of eight questions, including a few whose answers may be of special interest to the Trump administration itself.

"Interior officials claim these cuts 'streamline operations' and 'reduce redundancies,' but in reality, they weaken the government’s scientific capacity, erode public trust, and leave communities more vulnerable to environmental and natural hazards," the House members wrote.

Democratic Reps. Paul Tonko of New York and Jared Huffman of California led the missive. Huffman is the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Tonko formerly served on the panel and is now ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals.

The questions they raise range from how the USGS will "ensure scientific integrity" without the help of a now-abolished advisory committee to how the agency will "maintain up-to-date information on American geological resources" that are part of the critical minerals supply chains.

Citing the "loss of 240 positions" at the USGS, the lawmakers asserted the staff cuts will diminish the federal government's future ability to manage "mineral and energy resources critical to national security."

The Interior Department dismissed around 1,700 workers in their probationary periods — usually in their first year or two of a new job — in February. Those employees have since been reinstated after two federal court orders, although it is unclear how many are actually back on the job pending Trump administration appeals.

The "mineral and energy resources" reference in the lawmakers' letter strikes at the Trump administration's own avowedly ambitious plans for developing those very same natural assets.

"It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” Burgum said March 20.

Beyond Alaska, too, the Trump administration's Interior Department has set a goal for the United States to become the "leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals."

The Interior Department on Thursday did not comment on the specifics of the new letter but did indicate it will be reviewed.

"While we do not comment on congressional correspondence, the Department of the Interior takes all correspondence from Congress seriously and carefully reviews each matter," Interior spokesperson Alyse Sharpe said in an email.

Sharpe added that "should there be any updates on this topic, we will provide further information at the appropriate time."

The Democrats' letter asked for a department response by April 8.

The lawmakers' scientific integrity questions revolve around Burgum's decision in February to end the Federal Advisory Committee for Science Quality and Integrity. The advisory panel had conducted its first meeting about six weeks earlier.

"My biggest concern is that by dismantling this committee, the administration is sending a signal that it does not intend to uphold scientific integrity — not only at the USGS, but across the government," former advisory committee member Jacob Carter said in an email Thursday.

A research scientist, Carter added that the short-lived panel was "the federal government's first ever federal advisory committee on scientific integrity, and the administration dismantled it as soon as it could."

Interior spokesperson J. Elizabeth Peace said in February that the elimination of several advisory committees was in keeping with President Donald Trump's executive order to "streamline federal operations and ensure government resources are used efficiently and effectively."

The Biden administration had established the advisory committee following the release last summer of a critical report by Interior's Office of Inspector General warning that the USGS "lacks sufficient internal controls in laboratories to prevent losses associated with breaches of scientific integrity and misconduct."

"These breaches of scientific integrity have had significant consequences, including compromise to data integrity, the reputation of USGS, and the work of scientists who used the erroneous data," the OIG report warned.


By:  Michael Doyle
Source: GREENWIRE