As the Senate prepares to vote on a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would condition Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding on states ceasing enforcement of their AI laws (SEC.0012 Support for Artificial Intelligence Under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program), the Federation of American Scientists urges Congress to oppose this measure. This approach threatens to compromise public trust and responsible innovation at a moment of rapid technological change.

The Trump Administration has repeatedly emphasized that public trust is essential to fostering American innovation and global leadership in AI. That trust depends on clear, reasonable guardrails, especially as AI systems are increasingly deployed in high-stakes areas like education, health, employment, and public services. Moreover, the advancement of frontier AI systems is staggering. The capabilities, risks, and use cases of general-purpose models are predicted to evolve dramatically over the next decade. In such a landscape, we require governance structures that are adaptive, multi-layered, and capable of responding in real-time.

While a well-crafted federal framework may ultimately be the right path forward, preempting all state regulation in the absence of federal action would leave a dangerous vacuum, further undermining public confidence in these technologies. According to Pew Research, American concerns about AI are growing, and a majority of US adults and AI experts worry that governments will not go far enough to regulate AI.

State governments have long served as laboratories of democracy, testing policies, implementation strategies, and ways to adapt to local needs. Tying essential broadband infrastructure funding to the repeal of sensible, forward-looking laws would cut off states’ ability to meet the demands of AI evolution in the absence of federal guidance. 

We urge lawmakers to protect both innovation and accountability by rejecting this provision. Conditioning BEAD Funding on halting AI regulation sends the wrong message. AI progress does not need to come at the cost of responsible oversight.

President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response” is the latest of several significant federal policy efforts aimed at tackling the wildfire crisis. Other recent efforts include the passage of the Fix Our Forest Act in the House and introduction of a bipartisan negotiated companion in the Senate; an Executive Order on expanding timber production;  and the recently signed Aerial Firefighting Advancement Act of 2025.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) focuses on embedding science, data, and technology into government to support communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from wildfires. We are encouraged that the Administration and Congress are recognizing the severity of the wildfire crisis and elevating it as a national priority. Yet the devil is in the details when it comes to making real-world progress.

“Wildfires are burning faster and hotter than ever before, destroying communities and ecosystems and producing vast amounts of harmful smoke and debris,” said Dr. Hannah Safford, Associate Director of Climate and Environment at FAS. “As wildfires increasingly impact cities like Los Angeles and states beyond the western U.S., smart federal leadership on this issue is needed.”  

FAS applauds several elements of President Trump’s EO. For instance, the EO correctly recognizes that wildfire technology and prescribed fire are powerful tools for reducing risk and strengthening wildfire resilience. FAS is also glad to see the Administration promote interagency coordination; emphasize the importance of state, local, and Tribal leadership; and recognize the intersection of wildfire resilience and other sectors, such as the grid and our bioeconomy.

“However,” said Jessica Blackband, Senior Manager of Climate and Environment at FAS, “the Executive Order also contains elements that do not seem feasible against a backdrop of enacted and proposed cuts to federal wildfire staff, programs, and funding.”

For example, President Trump’s FY2026 budget proposes significant cuts to federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that provide critical data, forecasting tools, and other technical capabilities needed for wildfire preparedness and response (Section 3 of the EO). Workforce shortages in the U.S. Forest Service and partner agencies are raising alarm about readiness for extreme wildfires as well as capacity to carry out risk-reduction projects, including prescribed fires (Sec. 4(a)), safely and successfully. And erosion of federal technical expertise will likely make it difficult for agencies to revise wildfire-related rules (Secs. 4 and 5) in ways that are evidence-based and appropriately balance other health, economic, and environmental priorities.  

FAS also has concerns about timelines and processes established in the EO. For example, section 2 gives agencies just 90 days to “consolidate their wildland fire programs to achieve the most efficient and effective use” of resources. This timeline coincides with wildfire season, when agencies are already stretched thin. Moreover, proposals and consensus recommendations for improving wildfire governance are available, including the final report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. It is unclear how the EO will build on this substantial work.

Finally, FAS believes that the EO overemphasizes deregulation as a strategy for tackling the wildfire crisis. While there may be regulatory barriers or bureaucratic processes that could be streamlined or improved in the interest of wildfire resilience, other opportunities for progress are more potent. FAS recommends that future directives and policies provide greater support for science that improves our understanding of how wildfires impact people and places; technical assistance to support states and localities in wildfire planning; investments to reduce wildfire risk; development of metrics that make it easier to assess and track wildfire resilience; and approaches for ensuring transparent, responsible spending on wildfire. 

“Tackling the wildfire crisis will require an integrated national approach that is grounded in evidence, carefully executed, and appropriately resourced,” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at FAS. “The Administration should work closely with Congress and the wildfire community in implementing this EO and any complementary policies.”

FAS stands ready to help advance constructive plans and proposals that further wildfire resilience. Our team is working to build a more fire-resilient nation through policy development and analysis, fellowships, and issue education. We look forward to continuing to engage with the Administration, Congress, and state, local, and nongovernmental leaders to this end.

FAS shares the following formal comment in the Federal Register and asks that the scientific community, and the people across the nation who benefit from their research, to do the same.

The Federation of American Scientists opposes the proposed “Schedule Policy/Career” (“Schedule PC”) in present form because it rescinds civil servant employment protections, placing unnecessary and undesirable political pressure on highly specialized scientific and technical career professionals serving in government.

FAS encourages the Office of Personnel Management to rescind or substantially overhaul the Proposed Rule on Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service. We ask that OPM respond to the following comments and reflect how it will revise the Proposed Rule or abandon it.

New Employment Category is Unnecessary

Instead of creating a new employment category – the Schedule P/C for federal civil servants – the same goals can be accomplished by requiring agencies to regularly review and update critical elements in the performance appraisal system and their rating factors. Changing performance elements will have the impact of ensuring attention to accountability and responsiveness to policy without the ambiguity or determining assignment to the Schedule or the taxpayer expense of defending it.

The Administration is already taking this action by changing the performance appraisal system for the Senior Executive Service to make senior executives more responsive to Executive-branch priorities and policies. FAS advocates for updates to performance standards and rating factors appropriate for non-executives–based on the best available evidence–to achieve the intended accountability and responsiveness goals in this Proposed Rule. 

Proposed Rule Conflates Accountability with Administration

The Proposed Rule makes several errors in interpretation of the Civil Service Act of 1978, including the one potentially most detrimental to scientific enquiry, innovation, and exploration:

• The proposed rule is about accountability to the President and his/her  Administration policies, not about performance on the job and accountability to the Constitution. By conflating the two, Schedule P/C takes away individual appeal rights for anyone reassigned to this categorization rather than focusing on removing poor performers. An employee’s poor performance is more commonly related to a lack of quality, accuracy, and/or timeliness of their job tasks, according to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. As written, Schedule P/C also discourages dissent, evidence-based policymaking, performance management to understand and track results, and program evaluation to understand outcomes.

• The proposed rule newly defines Policy-Influencing Roles for merit-based civil servants, while underutilizing existing regulations for other Policy-Making roles like political appointees and those with excepted service employment. 
  
  • Newly designating “Policy-influencing” positions as Schedule P/C provides such a breadth of interpretation for federal agencies that it could encompass most federal jobs, which  currently rely on a non-partisan, merit based civil service and their associated civil service protections. Already, a Social Security Administration (SSA) leader has voiced the intent to designate nearly all SSA career employees as Schedule P/C. Furthermore, the lack of guidance to agencies in identifying “policy influencing” roles will create inconsistencies in its application across agencies and confusion in comparing similar occupations and their duties.
    
  • Moreover, the Proposed Rule deviates from the accepted definitions for “policy determining,” “policy advocating,” and “policy influencing” roles identified in the Civil Service Act of 1978, and assigned to political appointees and excepted service employment categories. If the proposed rule were limited to “policy determining” and “policy making”, most of these positions would already be part of the Senior Executive Service (SES). These federal employment Schedules already carry the requisite responsiveness and accountability to Administration policies and priorities needed to ensure alignment of federal programs with legislative and executive branch intent. 

The Federation of American Scientists supports the Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act.

Uncontrolled wildfire is an intensifying national crisis. Just this year, wildfires have devastated communities around Los Angeles and affected states in all parts of the country, from Florida to Texas and Oklahoma to the Carolinas. To tackle this crisis, the House of Representatives in January passed H.R. 471, the Fix Our Forests Act, with large bipartisan margins. FAS applauds Senators Curtis, Hickenlooper, Padilla, and Sheehy for coming together to build on H.R. 471, resulting in an even stronger version of this legislation now introduced as a companion bill in the Senate.

“As FAS continues to emphasize, failing to address the root causes of devastating wildfires is a policy choice. And  it’s a choice we can no longer afford,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “Swift passage of the Fix Our Forests Act in the Senate would put us on track to better manage the entire wildfire lifecycle of prevention, suppression, and recovery, including through smart and systematic use of science and technology for decision support.”

FAS championed important provisions of the Fix Our Forests Act, ensuring that both the House and Senate versions of this legislation include essential, evidence-based reforms to improve fuel management and facilitate rapid uptake of innovative approaches to fire management. FAS particularly supports Sec. 102, which would create the Wildfire Intelligence Center – a hub to coordinate wildfire management across federal agencies and embed science, technology, and real-time data into decision making.

Other key provisions include:

• Sec. 117 – Utilizing livestock grazing for wildfire risk reduction, including fuels reduction and post-fire recovery. Livestock grazing is a proven strategy to reduce hazardous fuels and combat invasive species while partnering with local ranchers and farms.
• Sec. 131 – Defining federal prescribed fire activity. Confronting the wildfire crisis must include increased use of prescribed fire; this bill rightly prioritizes the use of prescribed fire in large, cross-boundary projects near wildland-urban interfaces, Tribal lands, high-risk fire zones, or critical habitats.
• Sec. 138 – Facilitating the responsible utilization of prescribed fire. Increased use of prescribed fire also includes ensuring that prescribed fire is monitored and safely extinguished.
• Sec. 201 – Creating the Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program. Coordinating federal wildfire risk reduction efforts across federal agencies is necessary to enhance resilience in the built environment.
• Sec. 202 – Creating the Community Wildfire Defense Research Program. This section invests in science, research, and innovation related to managing wildfire in the built environment.
• Sec. 204 – Improving the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program by expanding eligible grant projects to include structure retrofits, defensible space creation, infrastructure hardening, and deployment of wildfire technologies
• Sec. 301 – Establishing a partnership program for biochar demonstration projects. Biochar can enhance forest health, increase carbon sequestration, spur job creation, and build new markets. 50% of biochar feedstocks for demonstration projects carried out under this section are required to come from forest thinning or management on public lands.
• Sec. 302 – Implementing accurate reporting systems to measure hazardous fuels reduction.
• Sec. 303 – Creating a public-private wildfire technology deployment and demonstration partnership. This section will accelerate testing, implementation, and deployment of fire technologies through partnerships between government agencies and private, nonprofit, and academic entities.
• Sec. 401 – Establishing a wildland fire management casualty assistance program.

“The science is clear: tackling the wildfire crisis requires better forest management, increasing the use of prescribed fire, and investing in and deploying the next generation of wildfire technologies. The Fix Our Forests Act will get this urgently needed work done. Now is the time for the Senate to build on the bipartisan leadership demonstrated by the sponsors and pass this bill,” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at the Federation of American Scientists.

The Federation of American Scientists strongly supports the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act of 2025.

The Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act would combat firefighter shortages by establishing a new Middle Fire Leaders Academy and grant programs to train and hire more firefighters and retain expert wildland firefighters with increased benefits and better working conditions. The bill would establish the Joint Office of the Fire Environment Center to improve fire response time with updated technology like developing risk maps and establishing. Lastly, it would address the public health crisis caused by wildfire smoke by establishing a nationwide real-time air quality monitoring and alert system.

“As the wildfire crisis continues to grow in size and severity, our solutions must be ambitious to meet the moment. The Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission developed 148 non-partisan policy recommendations to tackle this crisis and the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act is a bold and bipartisan package that incorporates a number of the Commission’s recommendations.” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “Rep. Harder, Rep. Franklin and Rep. Neguse have put forth a multi-pronged innovative approach to tackle the wildfire crisis. In particular, the creation of the Fire Environment Center is a game changer for land and fuels management, community risk reduction, fire management and response.”

For more information contact James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist, at jcampbell@fas.org.

The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act would establish regional research centers at institutions of higher education across the country to research and improve our understanding of wildland fire, develop, maintain, and operate next-generation fire and vegetation models, and create a career pathway training program.

“Extreme weather has pushed wildfires to grow in size and severity, making our current wildfire models inadequate. The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act is a significant investment in understanding how wildland fire risks continue to evolve, and establishes a strong foundation that first responders and forest managers can rely on,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “We commend Senator Luján, Senator Sullivan, Senator Padilla, and Senator Sheehy for their leadership to champion and invest in innovative next-generation fire and vegetation models to protect human health, ecosystems, and our communities.”

For more information contact James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist, at jcampbell@fas.org.

3/5/2025 Update: FAS issues letter of support for the Fix Our Forests Act ahead of Subcommittee Hearing. Read full letter here.

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The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 471, the re-introduction of the Fix Our Forests Act. In the wake of the ongoing and devastating Los Angeles wildfires, we urge the House of Representatives to swiftly pass this bill on strong bipartisan margins much like they did in September 2024. 

“Failing to address the root causes of devastating wildfires is a policy choice. As the crisis in Los Angeles shows, it’s a choice we can no longer afford,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “The Fix Our Forests Act takes important steps to confront these disasters. FAS particularly supports the creation of the Fireshed Center, which would provide first responders with science-backed decision-support tools, and serve as a nerve center to embed and deploy critical technology across the entire wildfire lifecycle of prevention, suppression, and recovery.” 

FAS championed important provisions of the Fix our Forests Act,  such as essential reforms needed to improve fuel management as well as support for cutting edge-innovations in science and technology. These provisions include: 

• Section 117 – Utilizing livestock grazing for wildfire risk reduction, including fuels reduction and postfire recovery.
• Sections 201 and 202 – Creating the Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program.
• Section 301 – Establishing a partnership program for biochar demonstration projects to support development and commercialization.
• Section 302 – Implementing accurate reporting systems for hazardous fuels reduction progress.
• Section 401 – Establishing a wildland fire management casualty assistance program.

“The science is clear: tackling the wildfire crisis means better forest management, including increased use of beneficial fire and new technologies to scale fuels reduction. The Fix Our Forests Act will get this work done by establishing the Fireshed Center and through other smart provisions. FAS urges Congress to take bipartisan action now and pass this bill.” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at the Federation of American Scientists.

The Federation of American Scientists strongly supports the reintroduction of the Critical Materials Future Act and the Unearth Innovation Act.

The Critical Materials Future Act would launch a pilot program at the Department of Energy (DOE) to use innovative financial mechanisms, such as contracts for difference, to support domestic processing projects, ensuring that these projects can withstand global market volatility. The bill also directs the Secretary to produce a study on the impact of these tools in advancing the development of the domestic critical minerals supply chains. The Unearth Innovation Act would establish a Mineral and Mining Innovations Initiative at DOE to research and develop new approaches for producing critical minerals in a more efficient and less environmentally impactful manner.

“The United States desperately needs a new and proactive approach to developing responsible, resilient critical minerals supply chains for the technologies that undergird our future. The Federation of American Scientists applauds the reintroduction of the Critical Materials Future Act and the Unearth Innovation Act,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer at the Federation of American Scientists. “The Critical Materials Future Act is a strong starting point for providing necessary price and offtake certainty to domestic processing projects, which face particularly strong headwinds due to the narrow margins and severe global market concentration in the industry. Through investing in near-term capacity and innovating on byproduct recovery and recycling, remining and remediation, and robust community engagement, these bills will ensure the stability and longevity of critical minerals supply chains for the U.S.” 

“There is no energy transition, no energy security without critical minerals, and the current state of critical minerals supply chains makes them extremely vulnerable to disruption. Accelerating the pace of decarbonization will require proactively addressing the problem of where and how these materials are sourced. The Critical Materials Future Act and the Unearth Innovation Act meet the moment by countering the market failures hindering the development of domestic processing capacity and reinvigorating American minerals innovation,” said Alice Wu, Senior Policy Associate for Clean Energy at the Federation of American Scientists

For more information contact Alice Wu at awu@fas.org

The Federation of American Scientists supports the Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act of 2025.

This vital bill would create a Wildfire Intelligence Center to provide decision support across the entire wildfire lifecycle of prevention, suppression, and recovery efforts, thereby allowing stakeholders to retain autonomy while holistically addressing the wildfire crisis. Inspired by consensus recommendations from the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, this bill further underscores the strong bipartisan momentum in Congress for a new federal center to improve wildfire detection speed and accuracy, enhance recovery efforts, and better prepare for catastrophic wildfires. FAS has previously supported similar legislation to create such a center. We look forward to working with partners to move forward on a single collaborative effort.

“FAS applauds Senators Padilla and Sheehy for introducing this bill, which would take a crucial step forward in protecting our communities from increasingly severe wildfires. The Wildfire Intelligence Center would bring together expertise at all levels of government to give our firefighters and first responders access to cutting-edge tools and the decision support they need to confront this growing crisis,” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at the Federation of American Scientists.

The Federation of American Scientists supports S.325, a bill to establish the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and the NIHHIS Interagency Committee.

S.325 would establish a clear, sustained federal governance structure for extreme heat by bringing all responsible agencies together to coordinate planning, preparedness, and response, a key recommendation of FAS’ 2025 Heat Policy Agenda. The bill also authorizes $5 million in annual appropriations for NIHHIS to deliver critical data, forecasts, and warnings and decision-support services as well as support a heat-health research program.

“Senator Markey, Gallego, and Padilla recognize that the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) is vital to the nation’s extreme heat preparedness and response. We need a comprehensive strategy to build U.S. resilience to extreme heat using science, technology, and evidence-based solutions. Our Nation’s people, infrastructure, and economy depend on it. There is no time to wait – heat season is less than three months away.” said Grace Wickerson, Senior Manager, Climate and Health at the Federation of American Scientists.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) commends Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and the entire Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for clearing a historic 75 pieces of legislation, including multiple crucial bills to confront the wildfire crisis.

FAS urges the Senate to consider and support the following legislation, which is critical to confronting and addressing the wildfire crisis:

• S. 1764, a bill to improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for other purposes (Sen. Cortez Masto).
• S. 2132, a bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program for the establishment and use of a pre-fire-suppression stand density index, and for other purposes (Sen. Lee).
• S. 2169, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to carry out watershed pilots, and for other purposes (Sen. Wyden).
• S. 2867, a bill to address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public lands, and for other purposes (Ranking Member Barrasso).
• S. 2991, a bill to improve revegetation and carbon sequestration activities in the United States, and for other purposes (Chairman Manchin).
• S. 4424, a bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western United States, to acknowledge and support the long-standing use of cultural burning by Tribes and Indigenous practitioners, and for other purposes (Sen. Wyden).

“FAS is looking forward to working with Members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to continue advancing this bipartisan package of bills as it moves through the legislative process,” said James Campbell, a wildfire policy specialist at the Federation of American Scientists. “We appreciate the thorough consideration of this legislation and urge leadership to pass these bipartisan bills before the end of the year.”

The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 8790, the Fix our Forests Act, commends the House of Representatives for passing of the bill on strong bipartisan margins in September, and urges the Senate to consider this legislation.

“In particular, we strongly supported and advocated for Section 102 and the creation of the Fireshed Center, with its proposed center of governance within the U.S. Geological Survey,” said Dan Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “The Fireshed Center would provide decision support across the entire wildfire lifecycle of prevention, suppression, and recovery efforts, thereby minimizing inequalities between different jurisdictions and allowing stakeholders to retain their autonomy while holistically addressing the wildfire crisis.

We are proud to have worked to include important provisions of this bill, including the Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program (Sec. 201 & 202), Biochar Innovations and Research (Sec. 301), and Reporting on the Effectiveness of Hazardous Fuels Reduction Treatments (Sec. 302). Additionally, three FAS supported amendments made it into the final bill including incentivizing the use of proactive animal grazing for fuels mitigation, public-private partnerships for low earth orbit satellites, and addition of artificial intelligence support tools to the Fireshed Center.

FAS would have strongly preferred to see this bill passed with funding attached and the controversial litigation reform pieces, including restrictions on public comment, removed. However, building bipartisan solutions takes compromise, and given the urgency of this crisis, FAS applauds Congress for taking action on this important issue.”