SHOULD WHITE HOUSE MUZZLE SCIENTISTS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY?
A firestorm of debate over politicization of science has dogged a White House proposal that could limit the access of reporters and the public to scientific information about environmental health risks. An August 2003 proposal by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would centralize under OMB the “peer review” of science by almost all government agencies – limiting disclosure of scientific results if OMB raises objections. The OMB “Bulletin” – similar in some ways to an executive order in that it has largely the force of law for executive branch agencies like EPA, FDA, and the Interior Department – is an extension of authority claimed by the White House under the obscure “Data Quality Act.” (See Nov. 19, 2003, WatchDog TipSheet article with links to earlier articles). OMB, along with conservative and business groups, has claimed the Data Quality Act gives them authority to prevent “dissemination” of inaccurate information, although the law, still untested in the courts
