Story perspectives

Trump Deletes 28 Federal Datasets, Alters 338 Collections

8/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Trump administration has deleted at least 28 federal datasets and altered 338 collections over the past 18 months.
The changes span more than 60 agencies across environment, labor, law-enforcement and health, with health data accounting for about 40 % of deletions.
An executive order removing gender-identity questions from CDC surveys prompted former Biden data chief Denice Ross to warn that erasing such surveys destroys institutional memory and hampers detection of epidemics.

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Story summary

The Trump administration has deleted at least 28 federal datasets and altered 338 collections over the past 18 months.
The changes span more than 60 agencies across environment, labor, law-enforcement and health, with health data accounting for about 40 % of deletions.
An executive order removing gender-identity questions from CDC surveys prompted former Biden data chief Denice Ross to warn that erasing such surveys destroys institutional memory and hampers detection of epidemics.