In its first two months, the Trump administration has not only laid off thousands of federal workers and shuttered agencies, but it has also purged taxpayer-funded data sets from a swathe of government websites, including data on crime, sexual orientation, gender, education, climate, and global development. Caren Grown, senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings, joins The Current to explain why the U.S. government data purge and the expertise behind its collection will harm good policymaking.

DEWS: You’re listening to The Current, part of the Brookings Podcast Network, found online with our other public policy shows at Brookings dot edu slash Podcasts. We’re publishing new episodes of Democracy in Question podcast now, and other shows are returning soon, regarding the U.S. government data purge and many other topics. I’m Fred Dews.

Since the start of the second Trump administration in January, thousands of federal workers have been fired or furloughed, entire agencies have been shut down, and foreign relations have been turned over from the previous administration to align with the new administration’s priorities. A major development that perhaps has gotten less attention in the mainstream media and general awareness is the the U.S. government data purge of taxpayer-funded data and statistics from a swathe of government websites, including data on crime, sexual orientation, gender, education, climate, and global development.

Here to talk about the U.S. government data purge is Caren Grown, a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings. She’s an economist who previously served as global director for gender at the World Bank Group and senior gender advisor at USAID, an agency that has been shut down by the Trump administration.

Caren, welcome to The Current to discuss the U.S. government data purge.

GROWN: Thank you so much for having me.

DEWS: You recently published a piece on the Brookings website regarding the U.S. government data purge, quote, “An ode to the Demographic and Health Survey Program,” the DHS. What is that program, Caren, and why have you written an ode to it?

Read the full article about the U.S. government data purge by Caren Grown and Fred Dews at Brookings.