The Trump administration abruptly terminated all 22 members of the National Science Board via a terse two-sentence email Friday. Members received no explanation for the purge, which affects the board that advises the president and Congress on scientific matters and helps steer the National Science Foundation. The action eliminates a key mechanism for scientific oversight without any stated rationale.

Established by President Truman in 1950, the National Science Board serves as an independent advisory body providing reports throughout the year. The board was scheduled to meet on May 5 and planned to release a report on how the US is ceding ground to China on scientific endeavors. Members serve six-year overlapping terms designed to provide continuity in leadership.

Vanderbilt professor Keivan Stassun, among those fired, described the action as "a wholesale evisceration of American leadership in science and technology globally." The ousters represent another severe blow to the NSF and the overall scientific enterprise in America, directly contradicting Truman's vision that the US must maintain its leadership in scientific matters.