I am writing to urge you to defend the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the broader principle of independent, evidence-based advice to government.
The National Academy of Sciences was chartered by Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. That history matters. Even as the nation was fighting for its survival, Lincoln understood that the United States needed independent scientific expertise to serve the public good. NASEM remains one of the institutions that helps our government make decisions grounded in evidence rather than ideology, political loyalty, or private interest.
I am deeply concerned by recent efforts to target NASEM’s federal funding and by the administration’s broader attacks on independent scientific advisory bodies, including the dismissal of the National Science Board. These actions are not merely bureaucratic disputes. They are part of a larger attempt to weaken the institutions that help ensure public policy serves all people, not only the privileged few.
A fair and equitable society depends on trustworthy evidence. Public health, environmental protection, transportation safety, disaster preparedness, education, national competitiveness, and medical research all require independent analysis from experts who are insulated from political pressure. When evidence is dismissed as “woke” simply because it acknowledges disparities or studies the needs of marginalized communities, we do not become more neutral; we become less honest.
NASEM is not perfect, and no institution should be beyond scrutiny. But scrutiny is different from political retaliation. Congress should protect NASEM’s ability to provide independent advice, preserve federal support for rigorous scientific review, and resist efforts to purge or intimidate advisory bodies because their findings are inconvenient.
Please use every available oversight, appropriations, and public advocacy tool to defend NASEM, restore independent scientific advisory capacity, and reaffirm that government must be guided by evidence in service of the whole public.
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