Government agencies publish reams of data every month. This data is used to track how well the economy is doing, and how our justice system, environment, and other parts of our democracy are faring, Politicians use the information to write laws, businesses use it to plan for the future, and voters use it to pick candidates.
This information is vital to the well-being of the country. But can we trust it these days?
In Donald Trump's first term, he told over 30,000 lies - and even most of what came out of the mouths of his aides was laughable. But this is not what I am talking about. The data published by the government did not come from the fantasists at the top of Trump's first administration. It came from the millions of hard-working, honest, career government employees - the ones who diligently do their jobs regardless of which party is in power. So, it could be trusted.
But things have changed in Trump's second term. Instead of just changing leadership at the top of government agencies (as all presidents do), Trump has gone further. He used DOGE to decimate most government agencies - firing many thousands of workers. This was a tactic to instill fear among government workers. Then agency heads made examples of some employees - firing anyone who publicly disagreed with Trump actions or published information Trump didn't like.
The message is very clear. Agree with Trump or else lose your job.
The sad fact is that the career government jobs are no longer safe. And agencies are not peopled by those who are afraid of Trump or those who are Trump sycophants.
What happens if the data does not agree with what Trump claims is true or what he wants to be true? Do they change the info (or shade it to be more in line with Trump's lies)? I would like to think that is not true and brave employees would publish the truth - but truth is not valued in the Trump administration, and anyone publishing truthful data could easily be fired and replaced with someone willing to spread lies.
I think we must treat data coming out of the executive branch agencies with suspicion.
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