Sponsors (22)
The bill strengthens protections, transparency, and standardized procedures for scientific integrity—helping scientists and improving trust in policy science—but creates new administrative costs and central oversight points and may still leave room for politicized decisions or limited enforceability.
Scientists, federal employees, contractors, and grantees gain clearer protections to speak, publish, present findings, serve on advisory bodies, and petition Congress without agency suppression, reducing political interference with research.
Agencies must adopt and report on scientific-integrity policies and appoint independent Scientific Integrity Officers, increasing transparency and accountability of how research is handled inside government.
Standardized, enforceable policies and clearer whistleblower procedures should improve trust in science-based decisionmaking and the quality of public policy (including health, environment, and national-security decisions) that state and local governments rely on.
Agencies and taxpayers will face new administrative costs to draft policies, hire or designate integrity officers, run training, prepare reports, and submit materials for OSTP review, potentially diverting funds from programs and services.
Key provisions are nonbinding or allow agency-head discretion, so the bill may not prevent political interference in practice and could let weaker policies remain in effect without creating new enforceable rights.
Permitted pre-dissemination review authority, even if limited, could be interpreted or applied broadly, causing delays or de facto censorship of research outputs.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires covered federal agencies to adopt OSTP‑approved enforceable scientific integrity policies protecting researchers’ communication rights and prohibiting political suppression of research.
Official title: Amend the America COMPETES Act to establish certain scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee scientific research, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 14, 2026 by Brian Emanuel Schatz · Last progress May 14, 2026
Requires federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee research to adopt enforceable scientific integrity policies approved by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Policies must protect scientists’ ability to collect, analyze, communicate, and publish research, prohibit political suppression or distortion of findings, and create career Scientific Integrity Officers to implement and enforce rules. Sets timelines for agencies to submit or certify policies (within 90 days of enactment) and publish approved policies; defines covered individuals broadly to include employees, contractors, grantees, collaborators and volunteers; preserves existing copyright law; and directs OSTP review and approval of agency policies. The Act converts previously nonbinding OSTP principles into statutory, agency-level obligations with specified rights, prohibitions, and administrative safeguards.