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| 28 Aug 2025 | |
| Written by Nathan Varnell | |
| Reports |
As part of ongoing monitoring of the changes to America's evidence infrastructure, the Data Foundation has identified several critical developments since our previous reports. Recent organizational shifts across federal agencies and private sector firms continue to affect both the workforce and operational capacity for data collection, analysis, and evaluation activities:
Public access mixed for federal record systems: OMB restored its apportionments database following a court order, while RegInfo.gov went offline in mid-August due to capacity constraints and remains only partially functional.
Leadership changes continue across key data positions: President Trump nominated E.J. Antoni to replace the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, while numerous Chief Data Officer and Evaluation Officer posts continue to undergo leadership transitions, with a significant number remaining vacant or filled by acting officials across multiple agencies.
Enhanced oversight processes established for federal grants: Executive Order 14332 introduced new review requirements for discretionary grants, requiring senior appointee approval and subject matter expert review, with potential impacts on research and evaluation activities.
Federal artificial intelligence capabilities expand: GSA added major AI tools including Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT to government purchasing schedules and launched USAi.gov for agencies to compare AI models, while NSF partnered with NVIDIA and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence to develop open-access scientific language models.
Data collection requirements expanded for higher education: A new White House memorandum directed enhanced Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data reporting in order to increase collections related to college admissions practices, with new survey components proposed for implementation.
Evidence Act compliance progresses: Federal agencies continue releasing open data plans and annual evaluation plans required by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.
These key findings reflect the continuing evolution of federal evidence capacity and highlight the increasingly systemic nature of changes to America's data infrastructure. The Data Foundation will continue monitoring these developments to provide objective analysis of their impacts on government effectiveness and transparency, as well as impacts on private sector users.
