"Housed at William & Mary, a public R1 research university in Virginia, AidData is a leading international development research lab. We connect decision-makers and researchers who have a shared interest in working together using granular data and innovative tools to solve pressing problems, precisely target resources, and use rigorous evidence to measure the impacts—intended and unintended—of policies and investments."

Before reimagining development data, remember what we’ve learned

[July 31] "The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) shut its doors a year ago. Among the assets at risk: a quarter-century of evaluation reports documenting what worked, what didn't, and why from USAID's Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC). We've archived the entire corpus of knowledge, which consists of ~4,500 English-language performance and impact evaluations published between 2000 and 2023. They're free, ungated, and searchable at USAID-archive.aiddata.org.

"This blog is the first in a two-part series on endangered data resources. With this piece, we detail AidData’s collaborations to save a key archive at risk of disappearance. In Part 2, we will explore findings from AidData’s recently-published Data Asset Inventory, which examines resources that are at risk of meeting the same fate as the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse."

The broken promise of D.C.’s Commission on Poverty

The 51st (Aug 20) [Originally published by Street Sense Media]

"Since its creation, D.C.’s Commission on Poverty has struggled to fulfill its mission of working and advocating for those living in poverty in D.C. Instead, commissioners say they have spent time legitimizing the commission to the same D.C. agencies it is meant to collaborate with. Some commission members and poverty policy experts say the D.C. government’s lack of financial support and urgency to appoint commission members reflect a greater failure to support Washingtonians in poverty. ...

"Now, there’s concern the largely advisory body will continue struggling to make a meaningful impact on the District’s response to poverty as it lacks funding and a trusted reputation within D.C. government. Approximately 117,000 people, or 17.3% of D.C.’s population, are living in poverty, according to the most recent U.S. Census data."

Court Blocks Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Overhaul of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

Democracy Forward (Aug 19)

"A federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today granted in part a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful attempt to gut the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), a bipartisan-supported program that has helped drive down teen pregnancy rates for more than 15 years. The ruling in Hennepin County, MN v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services halts the administration’s effort to force grantees into non-evidence-based, abstinence-only curricula."

Previous post from August 14

Coalition Sues Trump-Vance Administration Over Harmful, Unlawful Changes to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

Democracy Forward (July 14)

"A coalition of organizations and local governments filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful decision to replace the longstanding evidence-based framework of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) – a program that was put in place with bipartisan Congressional support more than 15 years ago – with an ideological effort focused solely on the administration’s political goals. 

"The suit comes after the administration issued two new Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs), imposing new criteria for funding awards pursuant to the program, and then rashly cancelled, just 72 hours later, the vast majority of active awards implementing the program midstream." 

[This is an update of an item originally posted on 8/20/26]

Dissecting the “Beginning Analysis” of Noncitizen Voting

Amy O’Hara,  Director of the Massive Data Institute at the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

"Rigorous scientific research into voting in U.S. elections consistently finds that noncitizen voting is incredibly rare. ... Despite the substantial evidence, the Trump administration has attempted a new tactic to revive the lie: abusing the U.S. Census Bureau’s sterling reputation for high-quality analysis. The report “Noncitizen Voting in the 2020 Election, A Beginning Analysis,” published under the Census Bureau’s banner, but with no attribution, raises numerous red flags on methods and research integrity."

Trump’s War on Reality Comes for the Census

Catherine Rampell, The Bulwark, August 20, 2026 (requires subscription)

"When we hear official announcements about things like unemployment or inflation, can we rely on those figures to accurately reflect reality, and to be based on proven models? Up until now, I have always said yes. ... Unfortunately, I can no longer vouch for any of that. Now my answer is: No, you should not default to trusting the government data. There’s clear evidence the Trump administration is cooking at least some of the books. That’s because this week we crossed the Rubicon: The granddaddy of all statistical agencies—the U.S. Census Bureau, which has existed in some fashion since 17903—was infiltrated...."

Experts raise alarms over Census Bureau report Trump is touting on noncitizen voting

NPR, Aug 20

"A highly unusual Census Bureau report that President Trump is using to reup dubious claims of widespread illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens has ties to a Trump-aligned think tank, NPR has learned."

No researcher’s name is on Census Bureau report Trump uses to claim the 2020 election was stolen

Mike Schneider / Count of Counting, Aug 19

"NO STATISTICIAN OR researcher at the U.S. Census Bureau attached their name to yesterday’s report stating that 24,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 election, and that should tell you something. Every other report on the bureau’s “Census Publications” site is credited to a statistician, economist, demographer or researcher.

"Then again, few Census Bureau publications are ever used as evidence by the president of the United States to claim an election was stolen. But that’s exactly what President Donald Trump did yesterday, proclaiming on “Truth Social” that he had won the 2020 presidential election. Just to be clear, Trump lost to President Joe Biden by 7 million votes in an election in which 160 million voters cast ballots."

Citizenship Question Effects on Household Survey Response

J. David Brown, U.S. Census Bureau, and Misty L. Heggeness, University of Kansas and U.S. Census Bureau, June 2024. Working Paper Number: CES-24-31

"We find significant heterogeneity in sensitivity to the citizenship question among households containing Hispanics, naturalized citizens, and noncitizens."

[This update expands the 8/14/26 item with additional resources and is reorganized for clarity.]

Census Bureau

[Note: The Census and Commerce news items are related, although the Commerce Department changes likely have broader impact.]

Understanding the New Disclosure Avoidance Policy: What It Means for Data, Confidentiality and You

Census Bureau director's blog (Aug 17)

Population Reference Bureau Associate VP Mark Mather comments on the PRB Federal Data Users Forum: "...[the order] bans noise infusion and designates coarsening as the preferred disclosure avoidance method. 

• 2030 Census: The CB plans to release a demonstration data product in mid-2027 for public feedback, which will inform census testing and 2030 Census design decisions.
• ACS: The CB is conducting research into how these methods will be used and expects a gradual transition, completed by 2029. Already-published products, including the 2024 ACS, won't be affected.
• Other products: Demographic surveys that use noise infusion will undergo disclosure risk assessments. Most economic indicators rely on suppression and won't change, but the Quarterly Financial Report will return to suppression. The CB is exploring alternatives for County Business Patterns, and LEHD products will continue using noise infusion until state data-sharing agreements are updated."

See also the PRB Disclosure Avoidance Explorer (an interactive guide with hypothetical data)

A New Draft Rule for the Census Seeks Sweeping Changes to How Political Power Is Allocated

TPM (Aug 11)

"The Trump administration is planning to dramatically reshape the data the Census Bureau collects, setting the stage for an audacious effort to curtail crucial information used in voting rights complaints and revive a right-wing effort, pursued in Trump’s first term, to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count used to determine how many members of Congress represent each state in Congress."

Census Proposal Would Stop Counting Undocumented Immigrants—and Ignore Race and Sexual Orientation

Wired (Aug 8)

"The US Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau, is circulating a proposed rule that would cease the collection of demographic data on racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people and prevent undocumented immigrants from being counted in the 2030 census, according to documents viewed by WIRED."

See a previous DCSS news item on the Census, "Inside Trump’s Stealth Trick to Rig the Census—and Congress"

Commerce Department Order

Explaining Department Administrative Order “Disclosure Avoidance for Statistical Products” (DAO 216-26) and Its Impact on Critical Data

Ass'n of Public Data Users (Aug 18)

"On June 4, 2026 the Department of Commerce issued a new order “Disclosure Avoidance for Statistical Products” (DAO 216-26) that limits the types of privacy protection methods that the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) can use for their data products. This order upends processes developed over decades to foster transparency and public trust and creates a scenario in which there will either be less privacy for our personal information, or less usable public data, or both. Notably, the DAO has resulted in an indefinite delay in American Community Survey, is likely to result in changes to the availability of County Business Patterns data, and is serving  as a justification to remove some demographic information from the decennial census."

How Will Methodology Restrictions Affect Demographic and Economic Data?

dataindex.us (Aug 12)

"On June 4, 2026 the Department of Commerce issued a new order “Disclosure Avoidance for Statistical Products” (DAO 216-26) that limits the types of privacy protection methods that the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis can use for their data products.

"Data users noted early on that the order would likely affect data availability, and we are now beginning to learn the scope of that impact. For example, on August 4, 2026 the Census Bureau announced an indefinite delay in releasing data from the American Community Survey."

See a previous DCSS news item on the Commerce Dept policy, "Update on Commerce Department data confidentiality policy" (July 29)

Conference Theme: “Shattering Stigma: Let Your Light Shine. Break the Stigma.”

A Hybrid Conference Hosted by Howard University Wednesday, November 18, 2026 – Friday, November 20, 2026

Deadline for Submission: Friday, September 11, 2026 by 5:00pm (EDT)

"This hybrid conference aims to increase awareness of the stigma associated with HIV and other health conditions as well as explore interventions to eradicate this stigma. This conference also serves to educate healthcare providers and the general public about stigma as both a major barrier to the prevention and treatment of illnesses and as well as a human rights violation. We are looking for original research that addresses HIV stigma or other mental or physical health-related stigma to be presented as a VIRTUAL POSTER during the conference virtual poster sessions on Wednesday, November 18, 2026 and Thursday, November 19, 2026. During the virtual poster sessions, each presenter will have the opportunity to give a live or pre-recorded presentation of their work with a live Q & A session to follow. Abstracts that focus on this year’s theme of, “Shattering Stigma: Let Your Light Shine. Break the Stigma” are particularly encouraged. A limited number of non-research, community-based project posters may be accepted for presentation during the virtual poster sessions."

Read the complete call in the attached PDF

From the Union of Concerned Scientists

The threat isn’t over: Tell Trump to keep his hands off science!

"When the best available science is replaced by political preferences, everyone pays the price. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has just proposed major changes in its procedures for awarding research grants. Essentially, the proposed changes—which are now open for public comment— would codify within NSF the damaging rules OMB proposes to make government-wide."

Read more and submit your personalized comment by August 24.

Read a more detailed analysis of the NSF proposal from UCS here: "Research at Risk: The Latest Proposal to Devastate the National Science Foundation"
(July 21)

Previous DCSS post, "NSF proposes new "Guidance on Financial Assistance" separate from OMB proposal" (Aug 2) 

As we covered in several DCSS news items, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) put forward a proposed rule in late May that would broaden and solidify its efforts to establish political oversight of federal grants. (See the July 12 DCSS news item, with links to previous items.) Hundreds of thousands of people responded to that proposal with comments.

However, on June 24, the National Science Foundation (NSF) submitted its own proposed rule that would potentially take effect independently of the OMB rule. This NSF proposal has apparently received less media attention, but it is open for comment until August 24.

Stand Up For Science Foundation, "Here is What You Should Know About NSF’s New Guidance on Financial Assistance"

"On June 24, 2026, less than one month after the Office of Management and Budget released its proposed revisions to the Uniform Guidance on federal financial assistance—the National Science Foundation updated its Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), now being rebranded or supplemented as the Guidance on Financial Assistance (GFA). The GFA is a direct outcome of OMB’s proposed rule and the contents should alarm all grantees but specifically higher education institutions that are NSF grant recipients.

"NSF is using this update to align its rule with the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders and the still-unfinalized OMB proposed rule on all federal grants and contracts (see page 6). The GFA draft is currently open for public comments, with a deadline of August 24, 2026. Stand Up for Science is alerting the scientific community and urging active engagement to push back against provisions that could harm research integrity, funding stability, and scientific independence."

Read the complete analysis online here and take action through the SUFS Action Center.

See the NSF notice on Regulations.gov and comment by August 24.

Related: "NSF Is Making Fewer Grants, Threatening the Future of Scientific Discovery" Association of American Universities (AAU, July 10) [Ed note: This URL is not rendering correctly on 8/16/26, but the content is still legible.] 

Related: "Trump Administration Rescinds Title VI Regulations for NSF and other Agencies" (COSSA, Aug 11) "On August 4, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released a notice of a new rule in the Federal Register to rescind portions of its Title VI regulations, effective immediately. ... sought to 'repeal or amend the implementing regulations for Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all agencies to the extent they contemplate disparate-impact liability.' "

See other recent DCSS news items about NSF:

"New NSF policy would ban almost all collaborations with Chinese scientists" (July 12)

"Trump Administration Strips Disability Accommodations at NSF" (June 2)

"New Grant Disruptions at NSF" (May 28)

From the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)

Did you submit [a] comment to OMB on the Uniform Guidance Proposed Rule?

August 11, 2026

"It is time to share your comments with your members of Congress! Instructions below.

"As may you know, the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed rule on Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance received tens of thousands of comments from the public, the majority in opposition to the rule. [Ed. note: It was actually several hundred thousand comments.]

"The draft rule included an implementation date of October 1, 2026; however, OMB has acknowledged privately that it is not likely to review all comments, as required by law, by then, likely resulting in a delay. In addition, the continuing resolution (CR) passed last week by the Senate to push Congress’ deadline for completing the fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations bills to December includes language prohibiting OMB from implementing the rule. (Note: The House and Senate passed different versions of the CR and will need to reconcile their differences when they return in September; the House bill does not currently include the OMB language.)

"While OMB reviews the comments over the coming months, organizations and individuals continue to express their concern for the rule. It is critical that Congress hears your concerns about the rule!"

[The COSSA action center includes instructions for contacting Congress, whether you previously submitted a comment to OMB or not.]

See the previous DCSS news coverage.

"Since the 2025 administration change, disappearing federal datasets have sparked widespread concern – and confusion.

"Today, dataindex.us published the Federal Data Terminations Tracker – the most policy-relevant, verified source of federal datasets terminated since January 2025. Having evolved from the crowdsourced Dearly Departed Datasets published in October 2025, the tracker combines community reporting with expert identification and review to provide a regularly updated record of terminations.

"The team identified dozens of federal datasets and hundreds of data elements that have been terminated – significantly fewer than other reports, but more tailored to informing effective public engagement and future data policies needed to run a modern society."

Federal Data Terminations Tracker
How Do We Track Terminations of Federal Data? by Chris Dick and Denice Ross (Aug 10)

Webinar: "Introducing the Federal Data Terminations Tracker" Aug 19, 2026 01:30 PM Eastern

NIH Director Bhattacharya kills more health disparities grants

Science (Aug 5)

"More evidence is emerging that the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a new wave of grant terminations. The first signs came last week, when Science learned that an ongoing research grant for a structural racism study by an Emory University team had been killed. NIH sources sharing information on background indicated it was the first of more planned terminations. Now, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya is ending two more grants, both for health disparities research at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt).

"A 4 August letter sent by Bhattacharya to Pitt’s research office informing it that a grant to social epidemiologist Tamara Dubowitz “will be terminated in full” confirms that more cancellations are coming. The letter explains that Bhattacharya’s priorities include focusing on “measurable health outcomes” and “solution-oriented approaches” in health disparities research. It adds, “As a result, NIH is adjusting its extramural research portfolio, which includes terminating grant awards, to prioritize agency resources towards the above-mentioned priorities.”