2 days ago
America's public data needs rescuing from Trump
America's public data is part of our country's critical infrastructure, every bit as important as our highways, bridges, railways, and dams. Roughly 300,000 public federal datasets, including GPS, weather, Census, and economic data, are an essential resource for policymakers, companies, state and local governments, and ordinary Americans.
Now the Trump administration is disrupting our data infrastructure in unprecedented ways.
Data experts across the country are alarmed by these changes, but they're also seeing the opportunity for positive change. The months ahead will determine whether we end up with an unreliable, inaccurate and deeply flawed data ecosystem, or a new infrastructure that is better and stronger than what we had before.
The administration began making changes to America's data systems within a month of the inauguration. It began by deleting government websites and datasets, which an ad hoc army of 'data rescuers' scrambled to save.
In the last five months, the changes to data infrastructure have gone deeper.
The administration has cut staffing and funding for data-providing agencies, altered or dropped specific surveys and data collections, disbanded advisory committees for the Census Bureau and other agencies that collect data, laid the groundwork for major changes to long-established data programs and removed data relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.
On July 3, The Lancet published research finding that 114 of 232 federal public health datasets studied, or 49 percent, 'were substantially altered,' primarily in how they referred to gender and sex.
My nonprofit organization has just published a white paper on the current challenges and opportunities for America's data infrastructure. Drawing on more than 200 sources and numerous discussions with data experts, we found a growing movement to reinvent America's data infrastructure, not just preserve it.
Advocates are simultaneously trying to rescue datasets and data programs while also envisioning something greater: a national data ecosystem that is more accessible, accurate, complete and secure.
Here are some of the best emerging opportunities to shape America's data future.
Working with Congress. The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (the Evidence Act), which President Trump signed into law in 2019, embodied a strong bipartisan commitment to public data for public use. In May, Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) introduced a bipartisan resolution to convene a new Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking like the one that shaped the Evidence Act. There is an opportunity to build on the Evidence Act by strengthening the processes required to alter major data collections, writing more precise specifications for the most high-value data programs, creating clear guidelines for making government data AI-ready and more.
Reinventing federal data governance. The president's budget for 2026 recommends consolidating three statistical agencies: Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many statisticians support this proposal and see it as an opportunity to make further, long-needed changes. The American Statistical Association has launched a project on Modernizing the Federal Statistical System with recommendations to come by the end of the year. Other expert groups could explore additional opportunities for structural reform.
Working with the states. States already collect data for national statistics on health, education and more, but variations in methods and data quality can make that data hard to use. Ongoing efforts to standardize state data could make it more reliable and leave the country less dependent on federal data collections.
Forming new collaborations. People and organizations that care about America's data are working together in new ways. For example, the Population Reference Bureau has launched a Federal Data Forum to promote information sharing and collaboration. Several foundation collaboratives are supporting projects to improve national data sources, both across the board and in sectors including science and health. We have launched a U.S. Data Action Hub, with about 70 resources so far, to track the growing number of organizations and initiatives working to protect America's data.
Reinventing data advocacy. Advocates are realizing that they have to make a stronger case for public support to preserve, fund and improve vital data sources. America's Essential Data is compiling examples of data used by police officers, students, ranchers and business owners, among others. The Census Project has stepped up its advocacy for the American Community Survey, an indispensable resource for businesses and entrepreneurs as well as state, local and tribal governments. Other groups are advocating for funding to support labor statistics and health statistics. Efforts like these are creating new coalitions that can protect our current data infrastructure, push for future improvements and provide evidence for lawsuits to protect essential data, like the recently successful lawsuits brought by physicians and organic farmers.
Developing new data sources. Data scientists are exploring alternatives to the federal data that's now at risk. They're looking for new ways to analyze national and state administrative data, which tracks government transactions and records, to gain new insights into the population. Crowdsourcing and citizen science projects can engage the public in creating new data sources. And AI has opened new opportunities to create structured, usable data based on internet searches, mobile applications and social media.
America's data systems are facing a crisis, but like any crisis, this one can open up new possibilities. Federal data serves a huge constituency that ultimately includes every American.
By thinking creatively and working together, we can preserve the country's most important data resources, improve what needs to be made better and ultimately create the robust, reliable data ecosystem America deserves.
