Several Republican House lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Tuesday to consider suspending taxpayer funding for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, arguing the congressionally chartered research organization is biased and pushing a “leftist” narrative.
The lawmakers, led by Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), specifically took issue with a chapter on climate change included in the National Academies’ latest “Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence,” which is used by judges to evaluate scientific and statistical evidence presented at trial.
The “highly politicized chapter on climate science … is clearly intended to sway judges deciding major climate lawsuits,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought.
The GOP reps called on Duffy and Vought to investigate whether the National Academies is flouting President Trump’s executive order aimed at “Restoring Gold Standard Science” to all government agencies, as well as federal grant guidelines requiring the avoidance or disclosure of “significant financial interest” that “could directly and significantly affect” scientific research.
The lawmakers contend that the National Academies climate chapter demonstrates the organization “has sadly been the victim of ideological capture, driven by a woke, partisan, and special interest-driven agenda that puts the Left’s preferred narratives ahead of the facts.”
“Most shocking is that there was no fully independent, meaningful peer review from scientists with differing views on climate science,” the lawmakers argued, noting the chapter only highlights the contributions of three people, “all employed by Columbia University’s controversial climate science institutions.”
The academics behind the chapter have had research funded “by the very same groups behind many climate lawsuits,” according to the lawmakers, demonstrating “clear conflicts of interest.”
The letter also points to funding the National Academies has reportedly received from “left-wing climate advocacy groups such as the ClimateWorks Foundation and the [George] Soros-backed Tides Foundation.”
“NASEM has also made its own donations to climate change advocacy groups,” the missive continued.
Burlison and his colleagues noted that a Biden-era Department of Transportation grant provided $84 million in taxpayer funding to the National Academies in 2024.
They want the Trump administration to consider pulling the federal grant.
“The American people are fed up with taxpayer dollars being used to push political agendas,” Burlison said in a statement. “When government-funded institutions blur the line between research and advocacy, it undermines trust and demands accountability.”
Additional signers of the letter included Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), Keith Self (R-Texas), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.).
The White House Office of Management and Budget, Department of Transportation and National Academies did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
