Advisory boards face upheaval in Trump administration

[Cara J]

Many advisory boards are changing in leadership and organization under the Trump administration. These changes have drawn pushback from some board members and non-government partners. Federal advisory boards are authorized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to give non-government experts the opportunity to advise secretaries and administrators of various departments and independent agencies on current government research, initiatives and portfolios. Members of these groups are appointed by secretaries, independent agency leaders or the president. The White House is coming under fire for a multitude of vacant seats on science advisory committees, especially within the Environmental Protection Agency. A recent study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that advisory committees were less staffed and met less often last year than any other year since 1997 when recording began. UCS found that two-thirds of these groups are meeting less often than they are mandated to by their own charters. This chart shows the number of appointed and announced or nominated members of scientific advisory committees under each of the last three presidents. ©Union of Concerned Scientist Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has been active in reorganizing advisory boards in his department. His efforts began early in his time in office with [...]

 

Read more: http://wildlife.org/advisory-boards-face-upheaval-in-trump-administration/