事情发生的经过: 根据政府问责局的一份报告，, officials under the Trump administration impeded the approval and funding of scientific grants, 特别是对617888九五至尊娱乐变化和濒危物种的研究.
为什么重要: Politicization of the grant award process violates the DOI’s merit review policy, placing political concerns ahead of scientific research that informs policy decisions and protects the health of our environment and the public. Senior officials should follow funding recommendations made by experts and not withhold critical funding for political reasons.
A 报告 by the Government 问责制 Office (GAO) revealed Trump officials interfered with the review process of grant proposals at the Department of Interior (DOI). The 报告 found that senior officials of the Trump administration 阻碍拨款决定 across several agencies at DOI by denying funding without documenting rationale of the decision, and failing to make decisions on competitive grants without any notice to those federal agencies who submitted the applications, including 13 grant applications from the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Political interests guided grant application screening processes as reviewers were instructed to have approved grants comply with DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke’s 10个重点 申请拨款. DOI’s competitive grant award process should be guided by federal grant regulations and the agency’s merit review process. This rigorous process is intended to ensure that applications are reviewed in a comprehensive, 公正的, 客观的态度.
在审查内政部的竞争性拨款授予程序时, GAO auditors found that political officials targeted and halted research proposals that primarily focused on endangered species and the impacts of climate change. GAO’s review found that 15 grant programs across three agencies lacked documentation to support their award decisions. 鱼类和野生动物管理局(FWS)的拨款项目, 美国地质调查局(美国地质调查局), 国家公园管理局(NPS)似乎是专门针对的目标.
例如, GAO discovered that in 2018 senior advisors under Trump failed to make an award decision for a 美国地质调查局 grant application that focused on climate change impact research. 美国地质调查局 experts tried to get in contact with a senior advisor at DOI to get information on their grant application status, 但美国地质调查局没有收到任何回应. FWS grant staff were also ignored when they attempted to get in contact with Interior officials for months to gain approval for grant applications. 政府问责局的审计员还发现了一份来自宗教人士的申请, civil rights organization to conduct historic preservation activities was also denied despite recommendation for funding from the Interior’s grant review panel.
In 2017, 类似的事件 of interference from the Trump administration during the grant review process was also seen at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when it became a requirement for a political official to sign off on each grant before it could be awarded. 同年, DOI initiated new grant screening procedures with a memo authored by Scott Cameron, 负责政策的首席副助理内政部长, 管理, 并且预算需要得到政治官员的批准. This change made it so that a senior political advisor would be primarily responsible for reviewing grants, 包括50美元以上的,大学:000.
617888九五至尊娱乐-based agencies like DOI produce valuable scientific research and data that us used by scientists, 决策者, 以及全国公众. 通过将竞争性拨款审查过程政治化, officials prevented agency experts from approving important scientific studies and undermined agency credibility. 联邦机构, 像美国鱼类和野生动物管理局, 美国地质调查局, 和NPS, communicate robust scientific information that is used to guide environmental and public health rulemakings, 而且，由于拨款的政治化，一项公共利益可能会丧失.