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Experts warn about the 'crumbling infrastructure' of federal government data

Unstable federal funding puts at risk the government statistics used to track the U.S. economy and population, officials and data users warn. That's before any cuts by President Trump and Congress.

While the statistical agencies have not been named specifically, some advocates are worried that calls to reduce the federal government's workforce by President Trump and the new Republican-controlled Congress could put the integrity of the country's data at greater risk. But it's a process that takes time and money for the agencies to research and make sure the quality of the government's statistics is not compromised, says Nancy Potok, a former chief statistician within the White House's Office of Management and Budget, who previously served as a deputy director at the Census Bureau. Terri Ann Lowenthal, a census consultant who served as the staff director of the former House oversight subcommittee for the head count, says the hiring freeze "could significantly disrupt" preparations for the test, which is designed in part to help the bureau improve its tallies of people of color, young children, renters and other historically undercounted populations.

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