Data from the Trump administration regarding environmental and public health has become the subject of controversy amid censorship and lost research. Already, critical datasets related to climate change, racial equity, and gender identity have disappeared, and much more is likely to disappear—data purge is on the way.
Experts are pushing back the action as this would be an alarming outcome in the name of research.
CDC Data Wiped Amid Executive Order Compliance
Warnings were spread across social media as researchers sounded alarms about a mass data purge at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency, responsible for tracking everything from chronic diseases to vaccination rates, saw its main data portal go offline, The Verge reports.
A notice on Data.CDC.gov cited compliance with Executive Order 14168, which aims to "restore biological truth" by eliminating gender identity-related content. The CDC says that the portal will be reinstated only once it aligns with the new administration's directives.
Researchers Race to Save Vanishing Data
Despite the unexpected decision, independent researchers and digital archivists have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to back up critical government data.
The End of Term Web Archive has preserved content during every presidential transition since 2008, for instance. Similarly, the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) has archived datasets from the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and Environmental Justice Index (EJI), which assess public health risks based on socioeconomic and demographic factors.
Despite these efforts, experts warn that archived data loses relevance over time. Without regular updates, aging datasets could fail to reflect real-world conditions, making them less useful for researchers and policymakers.
Environmental and Social Justice Data Under Attack
This is not the first time under Trump that federal environmental data was erased. Within his first term, nearly 40% of all references to "climate change" were deleted from government websites. Now it seems the administration is taking the approach even more aggressively.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (USDOT) have already taken down pages dedicated to climate sustainability and equity.
An internal memo at USDOT directed agencies to identify and "terminate" all Biden-era programs linked to climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
HIV/AIDS Data Purged as Foreign Aid Policies Shift
Even the foreign aid reduction by the Trump administration has seen the defeat of data from programs aimed at the relief of HIV/AIDS. The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief website was also recently taken down.
PEPFAR, launched in 2003, has saved the lives of more than 20.6 million people since 2024. But under Trump, funding for global health programs is being reshuffled, and information about these programs is disappearing.
Waging a War on Climate and Social Justice
Since returning to office, Trump has moved fast to roll back policies on climate change and social inequality. In his executive order, he accused DEI initiatives of "corrupting" government institutions and blamed "climate extremism" for rising inflation and excessive regulations.
With more data disappearing daily, experts fear public health and environmental research may experience setbacks that never recover. Despite archiving efforts, the disappearance of real-time, government-backed datasets may impact science, policy, and public awareness in permanent ways.
Will these datasets ever come back? Or is this a harbinger of a new world in which federal agencies arbitrarily withhold access to vital public health and environmental information? The stakes have never been higher.
As of writing, the United States Agency for International Development or USAID website remains shut down.
