The Republican administration has dramatically reduced or altered access to federal data, potentially undermining public accountability and evidence-based policymaking. According to dataindex.us, at least 28 federal datasets have been deleted and 338 modified over the past 18 months, affecting more than 60 federal agencies.
Trump Administration Data Cuts Raise Accountability Concerns
The Trump administration has significantly reduced or altered public access to federal data over the past 18 months, a trend researchers say threatens government accountability and evidence-based policymaking.
At least 28 federal datasets have been deleted and 338 others modified since the start of the term, affecting more than 60 federal agencies, according to dataindex.us, a nonpartisan group of data policy experts, researchers and developers formed to track changes to government data.
Health-related datasets have taken the biggest hit, accounting for roughly 40 percent of the changes tracked. Several Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveys have dropped questions about gender identity, including those covering HIV surveillance, violent deaths and intimate partner violence. Other health surveillance systems have simply stopped updating — among them the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Drug Abuse Warning Network, which tracked drug-related emergency room visits in near real time to flag emerging overdose trends.
"We're at a very vulnerable point as a nation," said Denice Ross, former U.S. chief data scientist and a cofounder of dataindex.us. "We're facing a future where we are not going to have the information that we need to make decisions that will save lives and benefit American communities."
Thomas Babor, professor emeritus of public health and addiction studies at the University of Connecticut, said the loss of comparative, longitudinal data undercuts the ability to track and respond to public health crises.
"Taking down, even temporarily, some of the most important surveys that we have, especially for comparative purposes, is like we're erasing our institutional memory for public health," Babor said.
Datasets outside the health sector have also been affected. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's twice-yearly survey of farm employers, used to set wage rates for H-2A visa workers, and a National Center for Education Statistics survey tracking teacher and principal pay and working conditions are among those discontinued.