“Data Under Siege: How the Federal Government’s Assault on Data Collection is Impacting Us All”
The Department of Government Efficiency’s assault on the federal bureaucracy is threatening the survival of crucial data collection efforts across various government agencies. The impact of these cuts goes beyond just job losses and program closures; it is eroding the government’s ability to measure and understand how American society is functioning.
For example, the Department of Health and Human Services has laid off the team responsible for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a vital tool for tracking substance abuse trends. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dismantled divisions overseeing databases on accidental deaths and injuries, hindering efforts to address public health issues. The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to stop requiring industrial facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions, making it harder to assess climate change policies’ effectiveness.
The Office of Homeland Security Statistics has not updated its immigration enforcement tallies, creating challenges in evaluating the impact of immigration policies. The National Weather Service is reducing weather balloon launches, affecting weather forecasting capabilities. These are just a few examples of the widespread impact of the government’s data collection cuts.
The halt on data gathering is not only hindering the government’s ability to make evidence-based decisions but also undermining accountability and transparency. Without reliable data, policymakers and the public will struggle to understand the effects of government actions and hold officials accountable for their results.
The loss of these data collection efforts is not just a temporary setback; it could have long-lasting consequences on the nation’s ability to identify and address societal challenges. The future of rebuilding this measurement capacity remains uncertain, leaving the country at a loss for valuable information that informs decision-making and policy development.