Slashing data does the same to knowledge

Earlier this summer the National Science Foundation announced the dismantling of a deep ocean monitoring system that provides crucial data on ocean warming and coastal flooding, including to Long Island researchers.

Ocean monitoring is just one of the thousands of federally funded datasets the Trump administration targeted to slash or alter, part of a troubling pattern from its very first days to end “unnecessary” data collection. These include a dataset tracking the number of households struggling to afford food; gender identity responses in a survey of high school students by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and immigration arrests and detentions by the Department of Homeland Security. These and many other datasets are no longer being updated or have disappeared entirely from government websites, according to a list aggregated by dataindex.us, which is keeping close tabs on the changes.

The one reason for the purge is that removing the data or ending the collection of it obscures the negative impacts of some of the administration’s policies. The elimination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture survey tracking food insecurity occurred before Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts that were expected to hurt thousands of Long Islanders.

Losing mass data is critical. State and local governments rely on timely federal data to make decisions on resource allocation and research, and so do school districts, nonprofits and numerous other groups. Delays, methodology changes or the disappearance of important reports and data can leave them in the dark. The lost datasets often invisible to us are invaluable snapshots of America at any given time.

There is also the intangible erosion of public trust. A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau claims to provide an initial count of noncitizen voters by state in the 2020 election, citing a think tank multiple experts have cast doubts on. By doing so, the Trump administration risks chipping at the reliability of a source the nation has long counted as an objective measure of demographic data.

From time to time, it is important to assess the relevance of datasets and archive those no longer helpful. However, that judgment should be left to experts and the agencies collecting the data, not partisan actors who want to undercut polices they don’t like. And if the federal government legitimately wants to retire some datasets, that must be done responsibly, giving interested states and nonprofits the time and resources needed to take up the baton if they so desire.

Congress must ensure that laws protecting how federal agencies collect and preserve statistical data are upheld. Shortly after plans to take apart the deep ocean monitoring system were announced, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to block the “reckless dismantling” of the program and the administration backed off — at least for now.

Federal data collection accounts for a mere sliver of the trillions the U.S. government spends each year but provides invaluable information. Data not collected is data lost forever, leaving us with a dimmer understanding of ourselves as a nation.