Update: Attacks on Independent Science and How We’re Fighting Back

This is federal policy news, not a home upgrade program update, but it touches on the science that shapes health and environmental rules. Since Trump took office, nearly 95,000 federal science jobs have been lost, and the administration has also cut back on outside expert panels called federal advisory committees. These are groups of outside scientists and specialists who volunteer to advise agencies on things like air pollution limits, pesticide safety, and children's health protections.

In 2025 alone, the administration ended 194 of these committees, compared with 23 the year before. Most of the cuts hit science-focused agencies like NASA, the EPA, and Health and Human Services. Specific examples include the EPA's Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee, which hasn't met since August 2025, and the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, whose new members now include a steel industry official and a member of a climate-denial group. The EPA's broader Science Advisory Board also lost nearly a quarter of its members, with more coming from the chemical industry. Separately, Trump fired all 25 members of the National Science Board, which oversees billions in federally funded research.

For homeowners, this doesn't change any rebate or program directly, but it matters because these panels historically shaped rules on air quality, chemical safety, and pollution — the kind of science that eventually affects home energy and health standards. In response, some scientists have formed independent groups outside government to keep offering expert recommendations while the official committees sit inactive.