Disappearing Federal Data

Starting January 20, 2025, federal data, webpages, and other government information previously accessible to researchers and the public began disappearing in compliance with executive orders. This situation continues to evolve.

The Journalist’s Resource provides an overview of the current situation, published by the Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Preserving Data Access- In his blog post Preserving Data Access (Feb. 5, 2025), Joel Herndon highlights concerns about federal dataset removals and their impact on research at Duke University. He emphasizes the library’s efforts to collaborate with data curation experts to preserve access and encourages researchers to seek support for data sourcing.

Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down- Since late January 2025, U.S. federal agencies have removed or altered over 8,000 web pages, including thousands from the CDC covering topics like chronic illnesses, reproductive care, and vaccine guidelines. Changes also included revisions to National Park Service content and the removal of references to diversity and gender identity.

The Environmental Data & Governance Initiative advocates for access to environmental data.

The National Security Archive at GWU examines the issue in the article "Disappearing Data: Trump Administration Removing Climate Information from Government Websites."