(Editor’s Note: This article is part of our series, “Data Preservation Under the Trump Administration.”
Federal data—the backbone of research, policy, and public understanding—is being removed from government websites at an alarming rate, revealing serious gaps in how our nation maintains and provides access to useful public information resources. The recent disappearance of vital tools and information repositories from government websites exposes a deeper structural problem: unlike the print era when government documents were physically distributed to libraries nationwide for preservation, digital information now exists in a fragile ecosystem where accountability mechanisms have broken down. This creates an environment where valuable public information and analysis tools can simply vanish without explanation or recourse.
What’s happening extends far beyond just the disappearance of raw data. Sophisticated analytical tools like the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool (EJScreen) have been completely removed from federal websites. These weren’t mere datasets but complex interactive mapping platforms that made environmental justice information accessible and actionable for communities, researchers, and policymakers. Meanwhile, the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey—which provided critical insights into Americans’ wellbeing during the pandemic—had its files temporarily removed and returned without datasets on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively erasing information about communities already vulnerable to discrimination and underrepresentation in federal statistics.
When datasets disappear, researchers must conduct painstaking, case-by-case investigations to determine whether information was deliberately deleted, moved without proper redirects, or simply disconnected from central indexes like Data.gov. The sheer scale and scope of federal data collection make this manual detective work untenable, creating an accountability gap where valuable information can vanish with minimal transparency or explanation.
This problem isn’t new. Previous administration changes in 2017 and 2021 triggered similar concerns and prompted “data rescue” efforts by researchers, librarians, and advocacy groups. However, our nation’s scientific community, policy experts, and public interest watchdogs cannot continue relying on emergency preservation initiatives whenever political winds shift.
The current situation has reinforced the urgent need for full implementation of OPEN Government Data Act (Title II of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act), which provides a stronger framework for data preservation by requiring comprehensive data inventories, standardized metadata, and a presumption of openness for federal data assets. It mandates that agencies catalog all data they maintain and designate Chief Data Officers responsible for data governance and stewardship throughout the data lifecycle.
The OPEN Government Data Act offers a systematic solution to the ad hoc data rescue challenges we’ve faced in recent years. This legislation establishes “open by default” as the standard for federal data, meaning agencies must maintain their data assets in open, machine-readable formats and make them publicly available unless specific privacy concerns or national security issues prevent disclosure. Rather than reactive preservation efforts whenever political transitions occur, it creates a proactive, legally-mandated framework for data stewardship.
The January 2025 White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance operationalizes these principles by requiring agencies to develop comprehensive data inventories that catalog all their data assets with standardized metadata requirements. These inventories make it easier to understand what data exists across government and ensure interoperability with the Federal Data Catalog—a central access point for government data. This infrastructure of cataloging and standardization creates visibility and accountability that would make it much harder for valuable data to simply vanish without explanation.
The guidance also requires agencies to create open data plans explaining how they will make their data accessible and usable, including specific processes for collecting data in open formats, analyzing usage patterns, and engaging with the public about their data needs. Each agency must designate an open data plan point of contact to lead engagement efforts with data users. By treating federal data as a strategic national asset rather than isolated agency resources, Title II transforms how the government approaches data management and sharing, creating a framework where preservation becomes institutionalized rather than dependent on emergency rescue operations.
The requirement for comprehensive data inventories creates unprecedented transparency and accountability. When agencies must document and catalog every data asset they maintain, it becomes much harder for data to silently disappear. If the Household Pulse Survey data files are temporarily removed and returned without datasets on sexual orientation and gender identity, we’d have an official record showing what was originally included and should still be available.
The “open by default” mandate shifts the burden of proof – agencies must now justify why data shouldn’t be public rather than the public having to fight for access. This creates a framework where removal of sensitive demographic information requires explicit justification.
The Federal Data Catalog serves as a centralized registry, making it immediately obvious when datasets like the Household Pulse Survey are altered or have portions removed. Unlike the current situation where researchers must conduct “painstaking, case-by-case investigations” when information vanishes, the catalog creates a single point of reference for tracking what should be available.
Without robust structural safeguards, U.S. national data infrastructure remains vulnerable to political whims, technical failures, and administrative inattention. The time for ad hoc rescue efforts has passed—Congress should see to it that Title II is fully implemented to create systematic, legally mandated protections that preserve collective knowledge regardless of who occupies the White House.