On January 22, 2025, President Trump nominated Michael Kratsios to be his science advisory. Mr. Kratsios holds a Bachelor of Arts in politics but no degrees in science or engineering. He served in the first Trump administration as deputy assistant for technology policy, later becoming the nation’s chief technology officer in 2019, and finally serving as the acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering in 2020.
The appointment is a break from the tradition of presidential science advisors who have advanced degrees and experience. The appointment also signals a shift to prioritizing artificial intelligence, which experts have expressed concern will lead to budget cuts to health and physical sciences. “This is an utter disaster,” said Michael S. Lubell, a professor of physics at the City College of New York and former spokesman for the American Physical Society. “Climate science is dead."