Trump Administration's 100-Day Battle: Preserving Digital Records from Potential Alteration or Loss

From the get-go of Trump's second term, US government sites started vanishing or undergoing drastic changes, all thanks to a whirlwind of executive orders. Federal agencies were left scrambling to comply with the chaotic tide of orders signed by Trump since day one.

Policies rolled back, departments and bureaus dismantled, and decades-long efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives abruptly ceased. Thousands of websites were affected, with scientific articles, priceless research data sets, and digital tools disappearing.

Trump's controversial executive order claiming there are only two genders made its way onto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Previously, pages referred to "pregnant people," but now they only mention "pregnant women."

Since late February, the first nationwide database tracking federal police misconduct has been inaccessible, and tools tracking climate risks and environmental justice concerns have been scrubbed. Hundreds of employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were let go, and looming funding cuts threaten to annihilate what many consider the world's most advanced climate modeling and forecasting systems.

Despite the chaos, digital archivists, scientists, researchers, and concerned citizens leap into action to salvage vital information from the digital abyss.

The race against the clock

"I put in a solid year of work at the beginning," says Lynda Kellam, a data librarian and coordinator with the Data Rescue Project, a platform that mobilizes efforts between various projects saving public government data. "I'd work all day, then come home and spend the evenings checking up on what's happening," admits Kellam.

One of the biggest challenges is predicting which government data will be next on the chopping block, promoting Kellam and her fellow volunteers to work tirelessly to save it from oblivion. Kellam goes on to explain, "Specific topics are more vulnerable, like data with sexual orientation and gender identification variables."

Federal agencies have flagged hundreds of words to avoid, and media outlets such as the New York Times and free expression non-profits like PEN America compiled these words into long lists. Research or data sets were scrapped for using phrases like "transgender." In some cases, images were flagged for removal if their file names included "gay." The White House later denied having a list of banned words.

Data enthusiasts aren't new to the rescue missions under the Trump administration. In 2017, Kellam participated in similar efforts with a group called Data Refuge. However, the scope of deletions this time is unprecedented compared to the previous presidency.

"From a data rescue perspective, there was data deletion under the previous administration, but it wasn't on this scale," Kellam adds.

The Data Rescue Project is just one of many organizations fighting the good fight to preserve government resources. Other non-profits like the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine, a tool capturing web pages and caching government data, play an essential role alongside these efforts.

An international sensation

Henrik Schoenemann, a digital historian at Humboldt University in Berlin, saw what was coming and started Safeguarding Research & Culture, an independent organization dedicated to archiving public data, five days before Trump's inauguration on January 20.

Schoenemann reached out to researchers and asked if they needed their data backed up elsewhere than on US institutional or agency websites. Running alongside a colleague, they began archiving research papers targeted by the Trump administration, such as articles using LGBTQ terminology like "non-binary" or "transgender." Then, they broadened their horizons.

"Just a few days before the CDC went offline, we archived the entire website and its data sets," Schoenemann recalls. "We started out by proactively thinking about what kind of data would be in danger."

When data is archived, either a request is made or Schoenemann and his team pick up on a specific area at risk due to an executive order signed by Trump. Volunteers then download data sets and archive websites in danger of being taken down, backing up the information on hard drives. The data is then added to a public catalogue online where it can be accessed using a torrent system, providing a safer means to share files.

"It's not just happening to health or climate data," explains Schoenemann. "Cultural heritage is also in danger."

Trump's controversial executive order on March 27 directed Vice President JD Vance to "remove improper ideology" from the Smithsonian Institution, including its celebrated museums, research centers, and the National Zoo.

A permanent shift in the landscape

Data experts are still analyzing the exact percentage of data lost since Trump took office, but after examining the first 100 days' worth of deletions, experts can see the direction the Trump administration is heading.

"The intent behind the deletions is either due to ideological differences or due to efficiency," says Kellam.

Trump's wide-ranging overhaul of US government agencies was spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In the weeks following Trump's inauguration, DOGE dissolved USAID—the country's main foreign aid organization—and attempted to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog agency protecting US citizens from bank malpractice. Now, theDepartment of Education is at risk of being dismantled.

Historians see parallels between the Trump administration and the Nazi regime, eventually leading to the burning of the Berlin Institute of Sexual Science's library on May 10, 1933, just a short walk from where Schoenemann works.

"We want to make sure that won't happen again," Schoenemann says, reminding us that sometimes, history repeats itself. "We can't save the people, but at least we can save the data."

Despite Trump's executive orders, the Data Rescue Project and other organizations have been working to salvage vital government data.
Lynda Kellam, a data librarian with the Data Rescue Project, has put in countless hours to save public government data.
Specific topics, such as data with sexual orientation and gender identification variables, are more vulnerable to deletion.
Federal agencies have flagged hundreds of words to avoid, including phrases like "transgender."
Some images were flagged for removal if their file names included "gay."
Schoenemann's organization, Safeguarding Research & Culture, archives research papers and data sets that are at risk of being deleted.
The CDC website and its data sets were archived just a few days before they went offline.
Volunteers download data sets and archive websites that are in danger of being taken down, backing up the information on hard drives.
The data is then added to a public catalogue online where it can be accessed using a torrent system.
Cultural heritage is also in danger of being lost, as Trump's executive order directed Vice President JD Vance to "remove improper ideology" from the Smithsonian Institution.
Data experts are still analyzing the exact percentage of data lost since Trump took office, but 100 days' worth of deletions show a clear direction.
The intent behind the deletions is either due to ideological differences or due to efficiency.
Trump's overhaul of US government agencies was spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In the weeks following Trump's inauguration, DOGE dissolved USAID—the country's main foreign aid organization—and attempted to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Department of Education is currently at risk of being dismantled.
Historians see parallels between the Trump administration and the Nazi regime, eventually leading to the burning of the Berlin Institute of Sexual Science's library.
Schoenemann's motivation is to prevent history from repeating itself and to ensure that valuable data is not lost.
The loss of climate risk and environmental justice data has raised concerns about the future of climate modeling and forecasting systems.
Other areas impacted by the deletion of data include science, education, culture, health, and business, as well as policy and legislation, car accidents, fires, learning, goal-setting, lifelong learning, skills training, job search, pop culture, sci-fi and fantasy, general news, crime and justice, and accidents.