Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), writing in The Equation: “The pattern is alarming, not only because of the lack of science advice that government officials are now receiving, but also because the Federal Science Advisory Committee system under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) provides an important layer of transparency and accountability for science-based decisions across the government. FACA requires committees to deliberate in public and take public comment. As a result, we in civil society have access to the scientific advice the government is receiving and can hold it accountable when it doesn’t take it. Firing members of the National Science Board cuts science—and the public—out of the picture.” Read Dr. Goldman’s full commentary here.