Trump's Science Advisory Council Looks Less Like Science, More Like a Tech Boardroom
The White House released its picks for the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology this week, and the name says it all. PCAST now reads like a guest list at a Silicon Valley fundraiser rather than a roster of people equipped to guide federal science policy.
The Membership
The council will be chaired by venture capitalist David Sacks and John Kratsios, who leads the Office of Science and Technology Policy but made his career in finance before moving into government.
The new members read as a who's who of tech wealth: Marc Andreessen, Sergey Brin, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, and Mark Zuckerberg all received appointments.
The pattern holds for lesser-known names: Safra Catz from Oracle, Fred Ehrsam who co-founded Coinbase, and David Friedberg, another investor. Nine spots on the 17-member council remain vacant.
The Exceptions
There are a handful of exceptions worth noting:
- Jacob DeWitte and Bob Mumgaard both earned PhDs from MIT before launching nuclear startups—DeWitte runs Oklo, Mumgaard leads Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
- Lisa Su also holds a doctorate and has spent years in semiconductor executive roles.
- John Martinis won a Nobel Prize for work on quantum physics and helped build Google's quantum computing program before moving into startups.
But these are outliers in a membership dominated by people who made their fortunes investing in and building companies, not conducting or funding basic research.
The distinction matters. PCAST has no regulatory authority, but it can shape how the government thinks about emerging technologies that cut across agency boundaries.
The Obama-Era Legacy
During the Obama years, the council produced analyses on antibiotic resistance, advanced manufacturing, and the fundamental research pipeline that sustains American innovation.
Those are the kinds of questions that require people who've spent careers understanding how scientific discovery actually works—not just how to commercialize it.
The administration's own framing underscores where its priorities lie. The announcement described a council that would focus on "the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce, and ensuring all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation." That's language aimed at commercial disruption, not the slow, uncertain work of funding labs and training researchers.
A Question of Purpose
PCAST under this administration appears designed for a different audience than the one its name implies.
Whether that matters depends on what you think a science advisory council should do—and whether you believe the people best positioned to build the future are the same people best positioned to study it.
Based on: The White House Announces New Members of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; The White House, 2025.