in effect
This is a presidential executive order (EO 14177, signed January 23, 2025) that re-establishes the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, known as PCAST. It creates an advisory council of outside experts and a few government officials to give the President advice on science, technology, education, and innovation.
It sets up a PCAST of no more than 24 members, most of them non-government experts appointed by the President, with the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and the Special Advisor for AI & Crypto serving as Co-Chairs (who may name up to two Vice Chairs). The council must meet regularly, answer requests from the President, gather input from industry, universities, labs, and governments, and it also formally acts as the President’s Innovation and Technology Advisory Committee and the National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel under existing laws. The Department of Energy provides its funding and staff support, and members serve without pay but can be reimbursed for travel. The order revokes the prior PCAST order (EO 14007 from January 27, 2021, as amended) and sets this council to shut down two years after the order’s date unless the President extends it.
The council members themselves—drawn from academia, industry, and government—are directly affected, along with the White House offices that run and staff it and the Department of Energy that funds it. Federal agencies may be asked to share scientific and technical information with the council. The order explicitly creates no legal rights for anyone and grants no benefits enforceable in court.