New Executive Order on “Gold Standard Science”: FOIA Implications
Dep’t of Justice, Office of Info. Pol’y, The FOIA Post (July 9, 2025)
On May 23, 2025, President Trump issued a new Executive Order No. 14303, “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” This Executive Order is “committed to restoring a gold standard for science to ensure that federally funded research is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, and that Federal decisions are informed by the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available.”[1] The Executive Order includes a provision that requires agencies to proactively make publicly available certain scientific information.
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In short, these are the Executive Order’s disclosure-related takeaways:
The Executive Order requires proactive public disclosure of “influential scientific information” as well as models and analyses used to generate that information.
Such information cannot be withheld from disclosure pursuant to FOIA Exemption 5 absent notice to OSTP and approval from the agency head.
However, non-discretionary FOIA exemptions including Exemptions 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7(C) should still be applied to such information where appropriate.
Risk models for agency enforcement actions are not subject to the disclosure requirements of the Executive Order.
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FOIA personnel should be made aware of the new public disclosure requirements in the Executive Order and should consult with their General Counsel’s Office for any questions regarding implementation of these requirements. Questions regarding the applicability of the FOIA to information subject to the Executive Order may also be directed to OIP.
Read the full blog post here.