President Trump ordered a federal review of the National Academy of Sciences on July 19, calling on federal suspension and debarment officials to investigate the organization’s work on climate guidance used by federal judges. Trump posted on Truth Social that the National Academy’s Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence contained “fraudulent, biased and misleading” information on climate change that had caused “huge losses” across the country.
The order targets a reference manual jointly produced by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the Federal Judicial Center, which federal judges use when handling cases involving complex scientific or technological issues. The fourth edition of the manual, released in December 2025, included a new climate science chapter authored by Jessica Wentz and Radley Horton of Columbia Law School to help judges evaluate expert testimony on climate topics.
The climate chapter itself was already withdrawn from the manual in February 2026 after Republican state attorneys general pressed the Federal Judicial Center to remove it, arguing the section presented a “highly biased, agenda-driven view” of climate change and unfairly targeted oil and gas companies. Some of the chapter’s contributing authors had been involved in litigation against U.S. energy projects, the attorneys general noted.
Trump’s order comes weeks after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who wrote the foreword to the updated manual, was questioned by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) about the climate chapter controversy during a Capitol Hill appearance. Kagan told Collins she hadn’t read the chapter but said the Federal Judicial Center judge managing the project was working with Congress on how to prevent similar situations in the future.
The judiciary’s scientific handbook, published since 1994, covers dozens of topics including DNA identification, epidemiology, medical testimony, and artificial intelligence. The manual is authored and reviewed by dozens of researchers, academics, and federal judges, and has been cited by lower courts and Supreme Court justices in their opinions for decades.
Sources
- Reuters — Trump’s Truth Social post calling for review, the manual’s role in judicial proceedings, and the National Academies’ joint production of the reference manual
- Courthouse News — Trump’s order to federal suspension and debarment officials, the February 2026 removal of the climate chapter, Republican state attorneys general’s letter, and the manual’s scope and history since 1994
- The Hill — Trump’s accusations of fraud and bias, GOP pressure leading to the climate chapter removal, and Justice Kagan’s testimony to Senator Collins
