Trump Administration Alters 400 Federal Datasets

The administration of Donald Trump has deleted or altered nearly 400 federal datasets over the last 18 months, according to a tracker from dataindex.us. The report indicates that 28 datasets were deleted and 338 were modified across more than 60 federal agencies.

Health data represents 40% of these changes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed questions regarding gender identity from several surveys, including the National HIV Surveillance System, following an executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government". Additionally, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stopped updating the Drug Abuse Warning Network surveillance system.

Other affected records include law enforcement misconduct data and air quality readings from US embassies. The United States Department of Agriculture deleted a twice-annual survey of farm employers used to determine minimum pay for H-2A visa workers, while the National Center for Education Statistics deleted a survey on the pay and working conditions of teachers and principals. Data policy experts warn these actions erase institutional memory and hinder the ability to identify emerging public health epidemics.