Report calls for improvements in appointing U.S. Government Science Advisors

Bureaucratic obstacles, including ethics requirements that may be inappropriate, are preventing top scientists from serving as U.S. government advisors and needlessly slowing down the appointment process during both Democratic and Republican administrations, concludes a new report from the U.S. National Academies. Issued just weeks before the upcoming U.S. presidential election on November 7, the report calls for significant steps in improving the appointment process—including streamlining and speeding up the process—without undermining ethics standards. The report, “Science and Technology in the National Interest: The Presidential Appointment Process,” was prepared by the Academies' panel on Ensuring the Best Science and Technology Presidential Appointments.