Take Care LedgerA dated, sourced record of the second Trump administration

Withdrawn Studies and Deleted Federal Data

Updated2026-11-09 Covers2025-01-16 to 2026-10-29

Summary

Since January 2025 federal agencies have removed or changed webpages and datasets on health, climate and history. They have ended or cut back regular data reports. They have also reduced the staff who produce public science and statistics.1,2,3,4,44,50 On Aug 1, 2025 Trump fired the commissioner who heads the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). He did so hours after a weak jobs report. He accused her of having “faked the Jobs Numbers.” CNBC and NBC News reported he offered no evidence.5 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) blocked publication of its own studies that found serious vaccine side effects rare.7 The acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held back a study. It found COVID vaccines cut hospitalizations by 55%.52 Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the CDC to change its autism webpage. The page now says that “vaccines do not cause autism” is “not an evidence-based claim.”8 As of November 2026, the health webpages have been restored under a court judgment.1 Other changes remain in effect. These include the staff cuts, such as the dismissal of nearly 400 authors of the National Climate Assessment. They also include the cancelled October 2025 inflation report and most of the stopped data series.2,6,44

Background

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is the law that sets the rules agencies must follow. Under it, courts cancel agency actions that are “arbitrary, capricious” or otherwise unlawful (5 U.S.C. §706(2)(A)).30 That means an agency must give a reasoned explanation for what it does (Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Ass’n v. State Farm (1983)).31,1 The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. §3506(d)(3))32 says an agency must give fair notice before it ends an important information product. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. §552(a)(2))33 lets the public see government records. It requires certain records to be kept open to the public.9 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. §§1001–1014)34 covers outside groups that advise agencies. It requires them to meet in the open and to be “fairly balanced.”77 The Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. §2936)35 requires a National Climate Assessment, a federal report on climate change, at least every four years.10 By law, the BLS commissioner serves a four-year term (29 U.S.C. §3).36,5,11

The first removals followed Trump’s January 2025 executive orders on “gender ideology” and on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). An executive order is a written order from the President to the agencies he runs. The removals also followed a Jan 29, 2025 memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that carried out those orders.1,3 Project 2025 had proposed ending climate research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The FY2026 budget later proposed the same.74

What happened

Health, history and environmental webpages

On Feb 11, 2025, Judge John Bates ordered the CDC, FDA and HHS to restore removed pages and datasets. These included guidance on HIV prevention and birth control (contraception). He found the removals were likely arbitrary because they came with no explanation or notice.1 On Feb 14, 2025 a separate order blocked deletion of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) data.12 In February the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took down its Future Risk Index. This map projected the costs of climate-driven disasters for each county.58 In its first 100 days the administration made 70% more changes to environmental websites than in Trump’s first term. It also shut down globalchange.gov.2 From mid-March to Mar 20, 2025, the Defense Department deleted thousands of pages, photos and videos under the anti-DEI order. The AP obtained a database of more than 26,000 images marked for removal. They included material on Jackie Robinson, the Tuskegee Airmen and the Navajo Code Talkers.3 Some were restored after public objections, and thousands stayed down.73 On Mar 17 HHS removed the Surgeon General’s 2024 advisory on gun violence.48 On May 12, 2025 the Department of Agriculture (USDA) agreed in court to restore its climate pages. For future takedowns, it agreed to follow the Paperwork Reduction Act’s notice rules. It also agreed to follow FOIA’s rules for its reading room, where records are posted for the public.9 On Jul 2, 2025 Judge Bates ruled for Doctors for America without a trial (summary judgment). He held that OPM went beyond its legal power. He also held that the OPM memo and HHS guidance were arbitrary and capricious, meaning not reasonably explained. He cancelled both and ordered the sites restored to how they were on Jan 29, 2025.1

Climate science and weather staffing

In late April 2025 nearly 400 scientists working on the next National Climate Assessment were dismissed. CBS reported that the assessment’s scope was being reviewed again. It said the sixth edition was still scheduled for 2027.2,10 By early June 2025 all 10 staff of NOAA’s climate.gov had been fired.4 The budget proposed closing the Mauna Loa observatory, which measures carbon dioxide.74 The July 4, 2025 Texas floods killed more than 130 people. Afterward, news reports showed the local National Weather Service (NWS) office had 6 of 27 posts empty. About 550 staff had been lost nationally. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the agency was “fully staffed,” and forecasters did issue warnings. In July letters to NOAA, Rep. Lloyd Doggett had asked for the office’s call, chat, radar and shift logs. On Aug 27 he wrote to Lutnick, accusing Commerce of withholding answers.13,14,65 On July 29, 2025 a report by five scientists selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) came out. The report questioned how severe warming is. It came with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to repeal the endangerment finding, EPA’s conclusion that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The proposal cited the report 22 times.15 Energy Secretary Chris Wright broke up the group on Sept 3 while a FACA lawsuit was pending. For the Jan 30, 2026 ruling, see Why it matters.75,76 On Sept 10, 2026 the U.S. Global Change Research Program proposed to “amend” the 2023 National Climate Assessment. The program is part of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. It made the proposal in the Federal Register, the government’s daily journal of rules and notices. The change would declare high-emissions scenarios, projections in which emissions stay high, “not policy relevant,” and the program did not consult the assessment’s authors.10

Discontinued data series

Economic statistics

From April 2025, under the hiring freeze, BLS collected fewer prices for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation. It stopped collecting entirely in three cities.6 On Aug 1, 2025 Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. It was hours after a jobs report showed weak hiring in July. He was the first president to fire a BLS commissioner. He accused her of having “faked the Jobs Numbers.”5 His nominee, E.J. Antoni, had written that “DOGE needs to take a chainsaw to the BLS,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The White House withdrew the nomination on Sept 30, 2025 without giving a reason.11,68 On Nov 21, 2025 BLS cancelled the October CPI. The 43-day government shutdown had left it unable to “retroactively collect” some October survey data. The Federal Reserve met on Dec 10, 2025 without it.6,66 On Jan 30, 2026 career economist Brett Matsumoto was named BLS chief.24,69

Education research

On Feb 10, 2025 DOGE and the Education Department cancelled 89 research contracts at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the department’s research arm. Their claimed value was about $881M. Then they cancelled about $336M in Regional Educational Laboratory contracts. This stopped surveys of private schools, homeschooling and career-technical education. The tracker links the cuts to the end of follow-up studies on school crime and on students tracked over many years (longitudinal studies). An Aug 7, 2026 contract change brought back the first-round (base-year) data release of the kindergarten longitudinal study (ECLS-K).57,72 In 2025–26 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) held back IES funds in three ways. It placed them in “unallocated” lines when it released money to the agency (apportionment). It capped spending commitments below the levels Congress directed. It also attached footnotes requiring compliance with Trump’s anti-DEI and grant-oversight orders.29 On Sept 17, 2026 Judge Allison Burroughs (D. Mass.) held that the executive-order conditions go beyond OMB’s power under the law. She also held that they are arbitrary and capricious, and she cancelled them. She rejected the argument that two budget laws bar court review. One is the Anti-Deficiency Act,42 which bars agencies from spending money Congress has not provided. The other is the Impoundment Control Act,43 which bars the President from refusing to spend money Congress approved without asking Congress first.29 On Oct 1, 2026 the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s auditing arm, issued a finding about Matthew Soldner. He has served as acting IES director since Nov 19, 2025. GAO found this is a continuing violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,38 which limits how long officials may serve in an acting role.85

Oversight websites

On Sept 26, 2025 OMB sent a message to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). Inspectors general are independent watchdogs inside agencies, and this council was created by law (5 U.S.C. §424).37 OMB said it had made a “policy decision” not to release (apportion) the council’s fiscal 2026 funds.28 By Oct 1 Oversight.gov was offline. That site holds more than 34,000 reports. At least 15 inspector-general websites and hotlines were also offline. Nextgov reported that the government shutdown did not cause the outages.81 OMB said inspectors general “have become corrupt, partisan, and in some cases, have lied to the public,”81 and Sens. Susan Collins and Chuck Grassley questioned the move. They asked OMB Director Russell Vought for his legal authority.82 By mid-November OMB had released part of the funds.83

Vaccine and health science

On May 23, 2025 Trump signed Executive Order 14303, “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” and it gives new powers to a designated “senior appointee.” That official may find violations, “correct scientific information,” and refer employees for discipline.27 In early Aug 2025 HHS cancelled $500M in research contracts for mRNA vaccines. It said it was shifting to “safer” vaccines. Reason reported that the data did not support that reason.16 On Aug 27, 2025 HHS removed CDC Director Susan Monarez. The Senate had confirmed her less than a month earlier. Her lawyer said she had refused “unscientific, reckless directives,” and the White House said she “is not aligned with the President’s agenda.”17 On Nov 13, 2025 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) put Jenna Norton on leave without giving a reason. She was an author of a dissent letter signed by staff.18 On Nov 19–20, 2025 Kennedy ordered the CDC autism-page change.8 In late Nov 2025 FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad told staff that at least 10 children died “because of” COVID-19 shots. He did not release evidence. The FDA’s own Dec 5, 2025 analysis was not released until May 2026, and it found none of the 96 reported deaths “certain” to be linked to the vaccine.19,70 Acting CDC head Jay Bhattacharya held back a study set for the Mar 19, 2026 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC journal. The study found the 2025–26 COVID vaccine cut adult hospitalizations by 55%. He objected to its test-negative design, a study method that KFF notes is common. CDC authors published it in JAMA Network Open on Jun 23.52,71 On May 5, 2026 the New York Times reported that the FDA had blocked its own studies finding serious vaccine side effects rare. HHS said the conclusions “were not supported by the underlying data,” and former CDC official Fiona Havers called it “censorship of taxpayer-funded science.”7 FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned on May 12, 2026. NBC News reported he was pushed out. It said a dispute over fruit-flavored e-cigarettes was “the last straw.”20 On Sept 3, 2026 Reuters reported that Kennedy asked the CDC to remove two Pennsylvania deaths from its measles tally.21

Key dates

Why it matters

Removal of published information (APA, 5 U.S.C. §706(2)(A); Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. §3506(d)(3); FOIA, 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(2)). The question is whether agencies may take down published information, or stop a data product, without explanation. It is also whether they may do so without the notice these laws require.1,9 The administration said it removed the health pages to comply with the January 2025 orders and OPM’s memo. Judge Bates held the memo and HHS guidance arbitrary and capricious, and he cancelled them.1 USDA agreed to restore its climate pages and follow the notice and reading-room rules.9 The tracker records that DHS stopped its enforcement tables with no notice that they were ending. CFPB moved its past complaint narratives to the FOIA reading room.44,56 The order blocking deletion of CFPB data remains in place. In June 2026 the full D.C. Circuit (en banc) sent the case back to the district court without ruling on the merits.12,84 For Oversight.gov, OMB called its refusal to release funds “a policy decision,” and the record shows no court or GAO ruling.28

Data the law requires (20 U.S.C. §9543;61 5 C.F.R. §250.302;60 29 C.F.R. part 160262). A federal law tells the National Center for Education Statistics to “collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education”. OPM’s regulation, a binding agency rule, states, “Each executive agency must conduct an annual survey of its employees,” and it sets 16 core questions. OPM’s Oct 29, 2026 final rules replaced the governmentwide survey with agency surveys built on 10 core questions. A federal law also requires every agency to survey its employees each year.86 The EEO reports remain required by regulation until a final rule ending them is issued.57,51,54 No ruling in the record decides whether the IES cancellations and the skipped 2025 survey meet those requirements. Products created only by executive order, such as DOJ’s misconduct database, ended when the order was revoked.45

Conditions on research funding (APA). On Sept 17, 2026 Judge Burroughs cancelled OMB’s executive-order conditions on IES funds. She rejected the argument that the Anti-Deficiency and Impoundment Control Acts bar court review.29

Advisory committees (FACA). On Jan 30, 2026 Judge William Young ruled on DOE’s Climate Working Group. He held that DOE broke FACA’s rules on open meetings, records and balanced membership in creating and running the group. But he declined to strike the report, so agencies, including EPA, may still use it.77

The National Climate Assessment (15 U.S.C. §2936). There are two questions. How will the four-year requirement be met after the assessment’s authors were dismissed? And may a published assessment be changed by a notice in the Federal Register?2,10 Carlos Martinez, a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, spoke about revising a finished assessment that the National Academies had reviewed. He called it “unprecedented.”10

Removal of officials over data and science (Art. II §2 cl. 2;39 29 U.S.C. §3). That part of the Constitution sets how the President appoints top officers, with the Senate’s approval. By law the BLS commissioner holds a four-year term. The CDC director is confirmed by the Senate. The record shows no court challenge to either removal.5,11,17 The Labor Department’s Inspector General opened a review of BLS data-collection problems on Sept 10, 2025.6,67 GAO found the acting IES director in continuing violation of the Vacancies Act.85

Executive Order 14303 and vaccine-safety research. The record names no law or court ruling that governs the FDA and CDC study decisions, the autism page or the measles tally. Executive Order 14303 lets a senior appointee “correct scientific information.” No court has ruled on it.27 HHS says the FDA studies’ conclusions “were not supported by the underlying data,” and Bhattacharya objected to the CDC study’s design.7,52

Use of Social Security data (Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. §552a40). The Privacy Act limits how the government may share personal records it holds. A DOGE staff member on loan from another agency (a detailee) cited Social Security data for claims about noncitizens voting. NPR found the claims did not match the underlying chart. At the time, a temporary restraining order, a short-term court order, barred DOGE from that data.22 The Supreme Court paused (stayed) a later injunction on Jun 6, 2025.26 In June 2026 a former Social Security executive alleged a plan to mark 2.7 million living people as dead. The agency denied adding such a list to the Death Master File, its list of people who have died.23 (See Federal Data Sharing and Surveillance.)

Outcome

Where things stand

As of November 2026, some things are back. These are the health webpages, USDA’s climate tools, some Pentagon pages and one IES first-round data release. The held-back CDC study was published outside the CDC.1,9,73,57,72,52,71 Most other removals and stopped series remain in effect.2,4,6,44 Several matters are still open. They include the proposed end of the EEO-1 report and the proposed change to the climate assessment. They also include the CFPB layoffs case, which was sent back to the trial court (NTEU v. Vought41), and the IES funding and vacancy disputes.54,10,84,29,85 The record does not show whether the two Pennsylvania deaths were removed from the CDC measles tally. It also does not show whether OPM ran a 2026 employee survey.21,51 On Oct 29, 2026 OPM ended the governmentwide survey, and each agency must now run its own.86 As of Nov 6, 2026 the CDC counts 4 measles deaths in 2026. States have reported 8 (six in Pennsylvania). The CDC no longer automatically adds deaths that states confirm.25

Related: Federal Reserve Independence, Shutdowns, Rescissions and Impoundment Findings, Public Health Under RFK Jr., Climate and Environmental Policy Changes and Federal Workforce Reductions and Schedule F.

Status

Item Status Latest development (date) What would change it
Health webpages and datasets Blocked (Bates, Doctors for America v. OPM, Jul 2, 2025) Memo and guidance cancelled; sites restored1 —
CFPB data deletion Blocked (Feb 14, 2025 order, NTEU v. Vought) Full D.C. Circuit sent the case back, no ruling on the merits (Jun 2026)12,84 A district-court ruling84
USDA climate pages Reversed Restoration agreed in court (May 12, 2025)9 —
Pentagon history pages In force Some restored; thousands stayed down (Mar 20, 2025)73 —
Environmental pages, globalchange.gov, climate.gov staff In force Not restored2,4 —
National Climate Assessment authors In force Nearly 400 authors dismissed (late April 2025)2,10 No venue in the record
Amendment to the 2023 assessment Pending (Global Change Research Program) Proposed in the Federal Register (Sept 10, 2026)10 A final notice; no date set
DOE Climate Working Group report In force FACA violation found; report not struck (Jan 30, 2026)77 —
Discontinued series: DHS enforcement tables, PRAMS national publication, embassy air readings, PPI components, farm-labor and food-security surveys, EPA air-toxics risk estimates, CFPB complaint narratives In force No restart recorded (DHS: as of Oct 5, 2026)44,46,47,50,78,79,53,56 The agency restarts the series
EEO-1 to EEO-6 reports Pending (EEOC rulemaking) Comments closed Aug 24, 202654 An EEOC final rule
Annual federal employee survey In force (OPM final rules, Oct 29, 2026) 2025 survey cancelled; governmentwide survey ended and agencies told to run their own by year’s end51,86 —
October 2025 CPI; BLS commissioner Concluded CPI never published (Nov 21, 2025); Matsumoto named (Jan 30, 2026)6,66,24,69 —
IES research contracts In force One ECLS-K release brought back (Aug 7, 2026)57,72 —
OMB conditions on IES funds Blocked (Burroughs, D. Mass., Sept 17, 2026) Conditions cancelled29 An appeal (none in the record)
Acting IES director In force GAO: continuing Vacancies Act violation (Oct 1, 2026)85 A Senate-confirmed director
Oversight.gov and IG websites Reversed Funds partly released (mid-Nov 2025)83 —
CDC autism page; FDA vaccine-safety studies In force Neither reversed (Nov 2026)8,7 —
CDC COVID vaccine-effectiveness study Concluded Published in JAMA Network Open (Jun 23, 2026)52,71 —
CDC measles death tally Unresolved 4 deaths counted against states’ 8 (Nov 6, 2026)25 Confirmation of the Pennsylvania removals

Who is affected

Removed pages and stopped data series affect the health care providers, researchers, states, businesses and members of the public who use federal data. Some health pages were taken down and then restored by court order. Some data series stopped without notice that they were ending. Some reports were cancelled or held back.1,44,6,52 Staff cuts affect the scientists who produced climate reports and tools.2,4 Federal employees lost their 2025 workforce survey. The public lost access to inspector-general reports and hotlines by Oct 1, 2025.51,81 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counts fewer 2026 measles deaths than states report. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) disputes the conclusions of the vaccine-safety studies that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) blocked.25,21,7

Key players

Chronology

Sources

  1. Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse: Doctors for America v. OPM · NPR: Judge orders restoration of federal health websites · Timeline 2025-02-11 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. NPR: climate and environment websites changed · National Security Archive: disappearing data · Timeline 2025-02 (approx) → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  3. AP (via Anchorage Daily News): Pentagon restores Navajo Code Talker histories · NPR (via WKYU): Pentagon restores webpages after outcry · AP (via PBS NewsHour): 26,000 Pentagon images flagged for removal · Timeline 2025-03 (mid) → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  4. NPR: climate website hobbled after staff eliminated · Timeline 2025-06 (early) → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  5. CNBC: McEntarfer fired · NBC News: Trump orders firing after weak jobs report · Timeline 2025-08-01 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩

  6. NPR: inflation data may be compromised by staffing shortages · CNBC: BLS cancels October CPI release · Timeline 2025-04 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  7. Washington Post: FDA blocks COVID, shingles vaccine studies · ABC News: FDA blocked publication of COVID, shingles vaccine research · Timeline 2026-05-05 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  8. STAT News: RFK Jr. ordered CDC website change · NBC News: CDC autism-vaccines webpage changes · Timeline 2025-11-19/20 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  9. Court filing: Joint letter, NOFA-NY v. USDA, No. 25-cv-1529 (S.D.N.Y.) · Timeline 2025-05-12 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  10. LA Times: administration wants to revise the latest National Climate Assessment · Timeline 2026-09-10 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  11. CBS News: White House withdraws Antoni nomination · Timeline 2025-08-11 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  12. Arnold & Porter: Trump administration seeks to dismantle CFPB (Feb 14 TRO) · Al Jazeera: judge blocks Trump effort to shutter CFPB · Timeline 2025-02-14 → ledger ↩↩↩

  13. PBS NewsHour/AP: debate erupts over forecasts and staffing · Timeline 2025-07-04 → ledger ↩

  14. NBC News: months after Texas floods, a congressman still looking for answers · Timeline 2025-07-04 → ledger ↩

  15. CBS News: groups sue over “secret report” by climate contrarians · NPR: EPA will end the basis for federal climate actions · Timeline 2025-07-29 → ledger ↩↩

  16. Reason: RFK Jr. shifts $500M from mRNA research · Timeline 2025-08 (early) → ledger ↩

  17. CNBC: CDC Director Susan Monarez ousted; top officials resign · Timeline 2025-08-27 → ledger ↩↩↩

  18. The Hill (via AOL): NIH staffer put on leave after criticizing politicization · Timeline 2025-11-13 → ledger ↩

  19. NBC News: No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says · Timeline 2025-11 (late) → ledger ↩↩

  20. NBC News: FDA chief’s resignation followed fight over fruit-flavored vapes · Politico: Makary resigns · Timeline 2026-05-12 → ledger ↩↩

  21. Reuters: Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally · Timeline 2026-09-03 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩

  22. NPR: How DOGE may have improperly used Social Security data · Timeline 2025-03-30 → ledger ↩

  23. Spokesman-Review (USA Today): Social Security tried to assign fake death dates to 2.7M people · Timeline 2026-06-05 → ledger ↩

  24. NBC News: Trump names Brett Matsumoto to lead BLS · Timeline 2025-08-11 → ledger ↩↩

  25. Contagion Live: Measles Update, November 6, 2026 · Timeline 2026-09-03 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  26. SCOTUS opinion 24A1063 (PDF) · Timeline 2025-06-06 → ledger ↩

  27. Federal Register: EO 14303 · Timeline 2025-05-23 → ledger ↩↩

  28. FEDmanager: White House moves to defund key oversight office; websites go dark · Nextgov/FCW: Trump administration knocks out at least 15 oversight websites, saying IGs “lied to the public” · Public Citizen: Undoing Accountability · Timeline 2025-09-26 → ledger ↩↩

  29. Just Security: Litigation Tracker (National Center for Learning Disabilities v. OMB, D. Mass. 1:26-cv-13019) · Timeline 2026-09-17 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  30. Cornell LII: 5 U.S.C. §706, scope of review (APA) legal authority ↩

  31. Cornell LII: Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29 (1983) legal authority ↩

  32. Cornell LII: 44 U.S.C. §3506 (Paperwork Reduction Act, ch. 35; (d)(3) notice for significant information dissemination products) legal authority ↩

  33. Cornell LII: 5 U.S.C. §552 (FOIA; (a)(2) records available for public inspection) legal authority ↩

  34. Cornell LII: 5 U.S.C. ch. 10, Federal Advisory Committees (§§1001–1014) legal authority ↩

  35. Cornell LII: 15 U.S.C. §2936, scientific assessment legal authority ↩

  36. Cornell LII: 29 U.S.C. §3, Commissioner of Labor Statistics legal authority ↩

  37. Cornell LII: 5 U.S.C. §424, establishment of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency legal authority ↩

  38. Cornell LII: 5 U.S.C. §3346, Vacancies Act time limitation legal authority ↩

  39. Cornell LII: U.S. Constitution, Article II (§2 cl. 2) legal authority ↩

  40. Cornell LII: 5 U.S.C. §552a, records maintained on individuals (Privacy Act) legal authority ↩

  41. Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse: National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought, No. 1:25-cv-00381 (D.D.C.) legal authority ↩

  42. Cornell LII: 31 U.S.C. §1341, limitations on expending and obligating amounts (Anti-Deficiency Act) legal authority ↩

  43. Cornell LII: 2 U.S.C. ch. 17B, Impoundment Control (§§681–688) legal authority ↩

  44. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · DHS OHSS: Immigration Enforcement and Legal Processes Monthly Tables · Timeline 2025-01-16 → 2026-10-05 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  45. BJS: National Law Enforcement Accountability Database · dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2025-01-20 → ledger ↩↩

  46. STAT: Gold-standard maternal mortality database in limbo · dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2025-01 (late) → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  47. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · CREA: US Embassy Air Quality Data Halt · Timeline 2025-03-04 → ledger ↩↩↩

  48. KFF: Tracking Key HHS Public Health Policy Actions · Timeline 2025-03-17 → ledger ↩

  49. KFF: Tracking Key HHS Public Health Policy Actions · Timeline 2025-07-02 → ledger ↩

  50. BLS: BLS to Discontinue Selected PPIs · Timeline 2025-08-14 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  51. Government Executive: OPM will forego FEVS in 2025, despite law requiring it · dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2025-08-15 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  52. KFF: Tracking Key HHS Public Health Policy Actions · JAMA Network Open: Interim Estimated Effectiveness of 2025-2026 COVID-19 Vaccines · Timeline 2026-03-19 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  53. Grist: The EPA’s data on cancer risk from air pollution has gone dark · dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2026-06-30 → 08-14 → ledger ↩↩↩

  54. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker (proposed rule) · Timeline 2026-07-23 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩

  55. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · NOAA: Arctic Report Card · Timeline 2026-08-10 → ledger ↩

  56. CFPB: The CFPB to Cease Discretionary Publication of Complaint Narratives · Timeline 2026-08-14 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  57. NPR (via WMFE): Trump administration targets Education Department research arm · dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2025-02-10 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩

  58. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2025-02 (approx) → ledger ↩

  59. CMS: SHO #25-005 (Dec 30, 2025) · KFF: Tracking Key HHS Public Health Policy Actions · Timeline 2025-12-30 → ledger ↩

  60. Cornell LII: 5 C.F.R. §250.302, annual employee survey legal authority ↩

  61. Cornell LII: 20 U.S.C. §9543, duties of the National Center for Education Statistics legal authority ↩

  62. Cornell LII: 29 C.F.R. part 1602, recordkeeping and reporting requirements under Title VII, the ADA, GINA and the PWFA legal authority ↩

  63. Federal Register: Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations (CDC, PRAMS, 90 FR 52666) · Timeline 2025-11-21 → ledger ↩

  64. CBS News/AP: Layoffs start at federal health agencies · PBS/AP: HHS to lay off 10,000, close agencies · STAT: Gold-standard maternal mortality database in limbo · Timeline 2025-04-01 → ledger ↩↩

  65. NBC News: months after Texas floods, a congressman still looking for answers · Timeline 2025-08-27 → ledger ↩

  66. CNBC: BLS cancels October CPI release · Timeline 2025-11-21 → ledger ↩↩↩

  67. CNBC: Labor Department watchdog opens probe of BLS data collection · Timeline 2025-09-10 → ledger ↩

  68. CBS News: White House withdraws Antoni nomination · Timeline 2025-09-30 → ledger ↩↩

  69. NBC News: Trump names Brett Matsumoto to lead BLS · Timeline 2026-01-30 → ledger ↩↩

  70. NBC News: No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says · Timeline 2025-12-05 → ledger ↩↩

  71. JAMA Network Open: Interim Estimated Effectiveness of 2025-2026 COVID-19 Vaccines · Timeline 2026-06-23 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  72. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker · Timeline 2026-08-07 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  73. NPR (via WKYU): Pentagon restores webpages of Black veterans, Navajo Code Talkers · AP (via Anchorage Daily News): Pentagon restores Navajo Code Talker histories after outcry · Timeline 2025-03-19 to 20 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  74. CNN: Administration tries to kill evidence of human-caused climate change by shuttering observatory · Timeline 2025-07-01 → ledger ↩↩

  75. CNN: Administration dissolves climate contrarian group · Timeline 2025-09-03 → ledger ↩↩

  76. CBS News: Groups sue over “secret report” by “known climate contrarians” · Timeline 2025-08 → ledger ↩

  77. C&EN: Judge rules DOE climate group illegal, but lets their science stand · NPR: EPA will end the basis for federal climate actions · Timeline 2026-01-30 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  78. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker (NASS notice; 90 FR 47914; USDA release) · Timeline 2025-08-28 → ledger ↩↩↩

  79. dataindex.us: Federal Data Terminations Tracker (NASS notice; 90 FR 47914; USDA release) · FRAC: USDA’s Decision to End 30-Year Food Security Report · Timeline 2025-09-20 → ledger ↩↩↩

  80. FRAC: USDA’s Decision to End 30-Year Food Security Report · Timeline 2025-09-22 → ledger ↩↩

  81. Nextgov/FCW: Trump administration knocks out at least 15 oversight websites, saying IGs “lied to the public” · FEDmanager: White House moves to defund key oversight office; websites go dark · Timeline 2025-10-01 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  82. Sens. Collins & Grassley: letter to OMB Director Vought on CIGIE/PRAC apportionments (Sep 29 2025, PDF) · Timeline 2025-09-29 → ledger ↩

  83. Public Citizen: Undoing Accountability · Timeline 2025-11-(mid) → ledger ↩↩↩

  84. Consumer Finance Monitor (Ballard Spahr): D.C. Circuit sends CFPB restructuring dispute back to district court · Timeline 2026-06-19 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  85. GAO: Institute of Education Sciences Director Vacancies Act violation (B-338094) · Timeline 2026-10-01 → ledger ↩↩↩↩

  86. Federal News Network: OPM formally discontinues Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey · Timeline 2026-10-29 → ledger ↩↩↩↩↩