Trump orders federal review of climate science manuals used by judges

Trump the president called the National Academy of Sciences guidance on climate change fraudulent and directed suspension and debarment officials to examine the conduct.

First Published: July 19, 2026, 4:28 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump ordered a federal review of climate science manuals prepared for the nation’s judges.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “The National Academy of Sciences has historically published analytical Scientific Manuals expressly for our Federal Judiciary. Of course, the Academy has been run by Radical Left Dumocrats who, it turns out, published fraudulent, biased, and misleading Manuals on Climate Change. These bogus Manuals were used by Judges to decide massive “Climate Change” Cases, and have created huge losses across our Country. These Manuals have been totally DISCREDITED. Our Nation’s Federal Judges deserve Facts and Science, not Political Fraud and False Science on Climate. With this TRUTH, I hereby order Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials to review this conduct. Our Taxpayers should not be funding Climate Fraud, and Judges should never have relied upon it. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Trump”

The president made the claim in a post on Truth Social on July 19, 2026 at 8:17 PM ET. He said the manuals guiding federal judges on climate change were “fraudulent, biased, and misleading” and directed suspension and debarment officials to examine the conduct.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution established under a congressional charter that President Abraham Lincoln signed in 1863, according to northwestern.edu. It provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government alongside the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, according to northwestern.edu. Membership totals roughly 2,700 members and 500 international members, of which about 200 have won Nobel prizes, according to northwestern.edu.

The stakes fall on both the judiciary and the researchers who supply it. Federal judges have leaned on scientific reference material to weigh technical evidence in complex litigation. A suspension and debarment review can bar an entity from receiving federal contracts and grants, which would cut off a channel of government funding for the academies.

The organization has continued to publish climate work in recent weeks. A new report assessed extreme event attribution, the field that studies whether human-caused climate change influenced a specific weather event such as a heat wave or heavy rainfall, according to nationalacademies.org. Neil H. Shubin, an evolutionary biologist, took office as the new president of the National Academy of Sciences on July 1, 2026, according to nationalacademies.org.

For the average reader, the dispute reaches beyond the courtroom. Climate rulings have shaped rules on emissions, energy projects, and liability that filter into utility costs and local development. A shift in the evidence judges accept could change how those cases turn out.

Has this happened before? This is not the first time an administration has challenged the scientific guidance used inside government. Federal science advisory panels and their reference materials have drawn disputes across prior administrations over methodology, membership, and funding.

The next move rests with the Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials the president named. A date for any decision or finding has not been announced.

Government clashes with scientific bodies have surfaced before. The National Academy of Sciences won its charter in 1863 to advise the Union government during the Civil War, according to northwestern.edu. Over more than a century and a half, its counsel has touched fields from weapons research to public health, and disputes over its independence have recurred as presidents weighed the advice against their own agendas. Neil H. Shubin now leads that institution as it confronts the latest federal review, according to nationalacademies.org.