<i>&gt; the ones whose jobs exist precisely for the purpose of giving advice to the government.</i><p>That&#x27;s sort of an odd way to frame it--it makes it sound like these people are only hired to interpret scientific literature for their superiors, or to conduct standard lab tests. On the contrary, many of these scientists conduct basic scientific research. There&#x27;s no &quot;advisory&quot; value to that work--it is not intended for immediate policy decisions, but rather for the long-term advancement of scientific knowledge.<p>Basic scientific research is a collective effort, and the only possible outcome you could expect when preventing scientists from sharing their research with the greater scientific community is the prevention of scientific progress. Assuming rational actors, I cannot fathom another motive.