Science Positions Increasingly Abandoned Under Trump

In government agencies, 20 percent of high-level science appointments are vacant, The Washington Post reports.

Lisa Winter

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Scientists have been leaving government posts since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, and those positions, by and large, have not been replaced. This shortage has led to insufficient regulation enforcement, limited data distribution, and a paucity of researchers, according to an analysis of public employee records by The Washington Post.

In total, 1,600 government scientists have left their positions since the beginning of Trump’s presidency. Most of those employees are experts in chemistry, geology, hydrology, soil conservation, and social science.

Staffing levels at agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which are supported by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, has remained relatively untouched during Trump’s tenure. In contrast, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which are steeped in the politically charged territory of climate change, have not been as fortunate.

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Meet the Author

Lisa Winter
Lisa Winter became social media editor for The Scientist in 2017. In addition to her duties on social media platforms, she also pens obituaries for the website. She graduated from Arizona State University, where she studied genetics, cell, and developmental biology.
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