Trump's war on numbers
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration is undermining — or has stopped collecting — key, once-nonpartisan data that kept the public informed about the state of the nation.
Why it matters: From Congress to city halls to boardrooms, critical decisions rely on accurate government data and public trust in that data. Without it, leaders risk making costly mistakes that could affect millions.
Zoom in: Across economics, energy, and health care, data once seen as trusted and apolitical is increasingly caught in the political crossfire.
- On top of that, widespread staff cuts across government are pushing agencies to scale back some data collection.
Economy: President Trump blasted the July jobs report — and fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- E.J. Antoni, Trump's nominee to become BLS chief, has marching orders from the president to overhaul the agency, which has released economic data that investors and CEOs rely on for more than a century. Antoni has floated suspending the monthly jobs report.
Crime: Trump misstated facts on D.C. crime when he moved to take federal control of the city’s police, AP reports.
- The president said crime in D.C. is "getting worse, not getting better," but violent crime in the nation’s capital has dropped since the pandemic-era peak to the lowest level in 30 years.
- White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller posted on X: "Crime stats in big blue cities are fake."
Environment: The Environmental Protection Agency says it will no longer update a database hundreds of U.S. companies use to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions, The New York Times reports.
- Plus, cuts to the National Weather Service's staff mean the government will launch fewer weather balloons, which help inform forecasts. Launches are being suspended in Alaska, New York, Nebraska, Maine and beyond, NBC reports.
Health care: Health data of all kinds is evaporating, either as a result of government orders to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion or staffing cuts, the Washington Post reports.
- The CDC is no longer collecting gender data on any programs, including violence prevention and mental health programs, the Post notes. The agency has also stopped collecting concussion data as well as analyzing data around drownings.
- The government has stopped federal collection of abortion data, numbers historically used to predict birth rates.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has stopped updating its database on drug use trends, which could make it harder to track street drugs and overdoses.
The bottom line: While some states and private organizations are stepping in to fill gaps left by federal agencies, the loss of government numbers and the erosion of public trust in those numbers could have lasting consequences.
