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The U.S. has the among developed nations. Since 1987, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has administered the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System to better understand when, where and why maternal deaths occur.

In April 2025, the Trump administration put the department in charge of .

It’s just one example of how the of all kinds.

The White House is also collecting less information about everything from to , and making off-limits to the public. President Donald Trump is also trying to , that are responsible for collecting important data tied to poverty and inequality.

His administration has also that share government data with the public.

Why data is essential for the safety net

I study the role that data plays in political decision-making, including when and how government officials decide to collect it. , I’ve found that good data is essential – not just for politicians, but for journalists, advocates and voters. Without it, it’s much harder to figure out , and even more difficult to help people who aren’t politically well connected.

Since Trump was sworn in for a second time, I have been keeping an eye on the on safety net programs such as and services for .

I believe that disrupting data collection will make it harder to figure out who qualifies for these programs, or what happens when people lose their benefits. I also think that all this missing data will make it harder for supporters of safety net programs to rebuild them in the future.

Why the government collects this data

There’s no way to find out whether policies and programs are working without credible data collected over a long period of time.

For example, without a system to accurately measure how many people need help putting food on their tables, it’s hard to figure out how much the country should spend on the , formerly known as food stamps, the federal supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, , and related programs. Data on Medicaid eligibility and enrollment before and after the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 offers another example. National data showed that after the ACA was rolled out.

Many institutions and organizations, such as , , , and nonprofits focused on particular issues like or , collect data on the impact of safety net policies on low-income Americans.

No doubt these nongovernmental data collection efforts will continue, and maybe even increase. However, it’s highly unlikely that these independent efforts can replace any of the government’s data collection programs – let alone all of them.

The government, because it takes the lead in implementing official policies, is in a unique position to collect and store sensitive data collected over long periods of time. That’s why the can have very long-term consequences.

What makes Trump’s approach stand out

The Trump administration’s pausing, defunding and suppressing of government data marks a big departure from his predecessors.

, U.S. social scientists and local policymakers realized the potential for data to show which policies were working and which were a waste of money. Since then, policymakers across the political spectrum have grown increasingly interested in using data to make government work better.

This focus on data grew starting in 2001, when President George W. Bush made a top priority.

for reducing waste and assessing policy outcomes. His signature education reform, the , of student achievement data at K-12 public schools.

How this contrasts with the Obama and Biden administrations

Presidents emphasized the importance of data for evaluating the impact of their policies on low-income people, who have historically had little political clout.

Obama initiated a working group to identify ways to into safety net policies. .

For example, he insisted on the collection of demographic data and its analysis when assessing the impacts of new safety net policies. This approach shaped how his administration handled changes in home loan practices, the expansion of broadband access and the establishment of outreach programs for enrolling people in Medicaid and Medicare.

Why rebuilding will be hard

It’s harder to make a case for safety net programs when you don’t have relevant data. For example, programs that help low-income people , and can be more cost-effective than simply having them continue to live in poverty.

Blocking data collection may also make restoring government funding or shut down even more challenging. That’s because it will be more challenging for people who in the past benefited from these programs to persuade their fellow taxpayers that there is a need for investing in a expanding program or creating a new one.

Without enough data, even well-intended policies in the future may worsen the very problems they’re meant to fix, long after the Trump administration has concluded.

This article was originally published in , a nonprofit independent news organization offering articles exclusively written by scholars.