Thousands of web pages across more than a dozen U.S. government websites have been taken down since the Trump administration came into office. These agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Census Bureau, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration and more.
There has been an ongoing effort to preserve this data, but MuckRock wanted to get the story behind the removals.
We asked the MuckRock community for their suggestions on where to FOIA about data removal.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) library maintains reports for the agency’s infrastructure project development activities, U.S. small business “desk study and definitional mission contracts” and event-related reports.
The reports were still on the site until February 2025, when the library page was removed with an error message of ‘Page Not Found.” The agency also removed their Reports and Resources page, which included historical annual reports dating back to 2020.
Screenshot of the USTDA’s website on Feb. 1, 2025.
MuckRock requested internal communications regarding the removal of these reports, and the agency responded.
USTDA staff noticed the missing reports by Jan. 31, with some asking if they had removed them from the public.
According to emails obtained by MuckRock, USTDA staff said that these reports were removed out of an “abundance of caution,” so the agency wouldn’t be accused of “promoting work that contradicts the Administration’s policies.”
The agency also removed a “Work With Us” page that contained a “Request a Report” block.
As of May 16, USTDA uploaded new reports in their library and also reinstated their Report and Resources page. The Request a Report page remains missing.
Have you noticed the removal of federal government data or reports? Let us know below.
