President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into the National Academy of Sciences and its affiliated organizations over their role in producing a manual on climate science used by federal judges, calling the guide “biased” and “fraudulent” in a Sunday night social media post.
The directive targets the National Academy of Sciences, along with the National Academies of Engineering and Medicine โ collectively known as NASEM โ which have historically worked with the Federal Judicial Center to produce reference materials designed to help judges evaluate scientific evidence in court cases.
“Of course, the Academy has been run by Radical Left Dumocrats who, it turns out, published fraudulent, biased, and misleading Manuals on Climate Change,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “These bogus Manuals were used by Judges to decide massive ‘Climate Change’ Cases, and have created huge losses across our Country.”
The president instructed Federal Suspension and Debarment officials to review the organization’s conduct. These officials work to prevent contractors who violate law or government policy from receiving federal grants and contracts. According to the Capital Research Center, the National Academy of Sciences has received hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding.
Controversy Over Climate Guide
The investigation follows months of scrutiny over the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, particularly its section titled “Reference Guide on Climate Science.” Earlier this year, the Federal Judicial Center and NASEM faced criticism after it was revealed that the climate chapter included footnotes and citations to prominent left-wing climate activists and advocates.
The backlash eventually prompted the Federal Judicial Center to retract the climate section from the manual. However, NASEM continues to post the contested climate chapter on its website, a practice that has drawn concern from nearly two dozen state attorneys general.
The Federalist reported extensively on the manual’s production, uncovering what it described as the leftist backgrounds of various contributors. The outlet’s investigation examined not only the climate guide authors but also contributors to other sections of the manual, documenting their political contributions and ideological affiliations.
Supreme Court Justice Questioned
The controversy reached the halls of Congress last week when it came up during a Senate subcommittee hearing featuring testimony from Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan. Kagan had written the foreword to the FJC-NASEM science manual at the center of the dispute.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine questioned Kagan about her awareness of the problems with the manual’s climate contents. Kagan confirmed she had “become aware” of the controversy but said she had not read the contested chapter before writing the foreword and still had not read it.
“The entire purpose of this book really is not to take positions on contested and contestable matters; it’s to help judges, assist judges, with respect to scientific issues, but not with any kind of slant either way,” Kagan said during the hearing.
Kagan added that Federal Judicial Center Director Judge Robin Rosenberg hoped “things will be learned from this experience” and that the center would avoid finding itself in such a position again.
Calls for Recusal
Several conservative legal organizations have called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Kagan over what they characterize as a failure to recuse herself from an upcoming Supreme Court case. The case involves a challenge to a Colorado state tort judgment against oil and gas companies for their alleged contributions to climate change.
These groups argue that Kagan’s authorship of the manual’s foreword creates a conflict of interest in the matter. “Justice Kagan’s participation in the Suncor case is indefensible given her public endorsement of climate-lawfare plaintiff theories,” their letter to the committee states.
Trump’s Position
In his social media statement, Trump emphasized that federal judges “deserve Facts and Science, not Political Fraud and False Science on Climate.” He framed the issue as one of fiscal responsibility as well as judicial integrity.
“Our Taxpayers should not be funding Climate Fraud, and Judges should never have relied upon it,” the president wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The investigation adds to ongoing debates about the role of scientific expertise in legal proceedings and the potential for political influence in ostensibly neutral educational materials provided to the judiciary. The outcome of the federal review could have implications for how scientific reference materials are produced and vetted for use by federal judges in the future.
Source: thefederalist.com โ https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/20/trump-orders-probe-into-biased-manual-used-to-advise-judges-on-climate-science/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trump-orders-probe-into-biased-manual-used-to-advise-judges-on-climate-science