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| 1 Oct 2025 | |
| 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:
Government funding deadline approaches with potential shutdown implications: Federal funding lapses at midnight September 30, with all non-essential data and evidence functions expected to temporarily suspend. Per an OMB memo, agencies have been instructed to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings during a possible shutdown, potentially affecting data and evidence capacity if implemented.
Leadership transitions in key statistical positions: Vacancies continue in many Chief Data Officer, Evaluation Officer, and Statistical Official positions. However, a series of Senate confirmations and administration appointments of acting officials have been made to key roles, including acting director of the Census Bureau.
Agencies advance transparency requirements: Federal agencies continue publishing strategic plans and open data resources, including new "Gold Standard Science" implementation plans, with data.gov including over 364,000 open datasets — a net increase of 56,000 since January 20, 2025.
Food insecurity measure data collection faces termination: The Department of Agriculture is ending its annual contract with the Census Bureau for the Food Security Supplement, with the administration confirming it will not publish data beyond the 2024 collection.
These key findings reflect the continuing evolution of federal evidence capacity and highlight the increasingly systemic nature of changes to America's data infrastructure. This September report marks the conclusion of our monthly Evidence Capacity Pulse Report series. As the government enters a new fiscal year, the Data Foundation is transitioning to a more dynamic approach for tracking and sharing developments. Organizations and individuals can continue contributing to this ongoing analysis through our SAFE-Track platform, which provides secure and anonymous reporting of evidence ecosystem impacts.
