Trump Administration’s Campaign to Control Data Undermines Evidence-Based Governance

The Trump administration has adopted a deliberate strategy centered on controlling information to reshape the federal government's operation. Soon after assuming office, directives were issued to halt communications from federal health agencies to the public. Subsequently, numerous government websites removed data on topics including climate change, public health, foreign aid, and education. The Department of Government Efficiency cut back significantly on federal data collection efforts, and the president dismissed the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner following a mediocre jobs report in July.

From the perspective of information law and policy, this marks a troubling shift: rather than relying on data to guide governance, the administration is increasingly manipulating, disregarding, or outright discarding information. Officials who resist this approach face pressure to conform or step down, as seen in the experiences of figures like Jerome Powell, Lisa Cook, and recently, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez.

The administration's approach embraces fostering uncertainty and limiting public knowledge. This goes beyond merely trimming underfunded statistical agencies or spinning data to political ends. Instead, it systematically diminishes the government's role as a custodian of reliable information by minimizing, selectively using, misrepresenting, and sometimes destroying data.

Using evidence and hard data to inform government decisions is a foundational principle of the political system. Laws such as the Administrative Procedure Act prohibit arbitrary or capricious agency actions, while the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 mandates that agencies develop data and evidence to underpin policy decisions. These frameworks embody the expectation that government decisions should be rational and evidence-driven.

While the president’s disregard for facts and truth is well-known, this represents a broader transformation. It is not merely about shaping public perception or political image, but about redefining the government's fundamental relationship with data and evidence. Because much of the federal government's statistical work operates behind the scenes, these changes may not provoke the same public backlash as other controversial policies targeting political adversaries or minority groups.

Among the many targets of this administration’s efforts, the federal statistical system may appear less significant. The tasks of gathering, analyzing, and reporting data might seem like tedious bureaucratic functions, often overlooked and undervalued. This perception aligns with the Department of Government Efficiency’s characterization of such data collection as excessive, leading to proposed eliminations of various information-gathering activities.