Trump Science advisor has a political science degree

Yes, it is (well, not like mathematics, which is absolutely not a science though it is a tool frequently needed by science; political science is more like biology than it is like physics or chemistry, though.)

That said, a bachelor's in political science (which, hey, I have too) with no research background and no work history in any kind of scientific practice or, more to the point, administrative/policy work with a focus in the sciences (e.g., its not like he had a polisci degree and then spent a decade working on, and eventually taking a senior role in, the staff of one of the science-focussed committees in Congress) is hardly a qualification for a significant role, much less the lead role, in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

But the bigger story is...

> The President needs a team of skilled people advising him on issues related to science and technology

Right, and this is where the article not only buries but actually misses what should be the lede. The real issue is not that the OSTP has a poorly-qualified de facto lead because of a vacancy in the actual lead position; the real issue is that the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, who are intended to be the broad, interdisciplinary "team of skilled people advising [the President] on issues related to science and technology" that interface with the rest of the White House through the OSTP, is empty because Trump hasn't appointed anyone to the council.