Project 2025 Federal Data Purge: Trump Has Carried Out Most of It, Guardian Finds

The Trump administration has already carried out most of Project 2025's sweeping plan to delete, censor and distort federal data, according to a Guardian analysis published on Wednesday. The newspaper's review of the full 900-page blueprint found at least 92 calls to delete data, censor scientific information, repeal transparency laws or abolish entire offices that produce data — and says most of those recommendations have now been put into effect, with 42 more in progress.

In less than two years, hundreds of federal datasets have been terminated or altered, and thousands of government webpages have been revised or wiped. The White House and the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, did not respond to the Guardian.

Key Points

• The Guardian's analysis of the full 900-page Project 2025 blueprint found at least 92 recommendations to delete, censor or restrict federal data.
• The Trump administration has implemented "most of them", the paper says, with another 42 recommendations in progress.
• Nearly 400 federal datasets have been terminated or altered, and thousands of government webpages revised or wiped.
• The EPA deleted its climate research website, the Treasury ended shell-company ownership data collection, and hundreds of National Climate Assessment scientists were dismissed.
• The administration is now trying to reshape the 2030 census, including excluding some immigrants from the apportionment survey and adding a citizenship question.

What Happened

The Guardian published its analysis on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, written by Amy Qin and Flavio Pessoa. The reporters read the whole 900-page Project 2025 blueprint and matched each data-related recommendation against what the Trump administration has done since taking office in January 2025. The blueprint contains at least 92 such calls, spanning dozens of executive agencies, and the paper says the administration has implemented "most of them".

The scale is visible in the government's own records. Nearly 400 federal datasets have been terminated or altered, and thousands of webpages have been revised or wiped. The deletions hit diversity, equity and inclusion and climate information hardest. Three examples stand out: the Treasury Department terminated shell-company ownership data collection this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency deleted its climate research website, and the administration dismissed hundreds of scientists who worked on the National Climate Assessment. The Transportation Department also revised its rules to limit which self-driving car crashes must be reported.

Background: What Is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is the Heritage Foundation's 900-page policy blueprint for a conservative administration, published as a manual called "Mandate for Leadership". It sets out detailed recommendations for every part of the federal government, and it treats the government's own data as a battleground — calling for an end to data collections, censorship of scientific findings, repeal of transparency laws and abolition of the offices that produce official statistics.

The Guardian's analysis is the most systematic attempt yet to test how much of that agenda has happened. Rather than looking at a single agency, Qin and Pessoa worked through the entire blueprint and checked each recommendation against the administration's record. The result is a picture of a programme carried out across the government at once, not a series of isolated cuts.

Project 2025 Federal Data: What Has Been Deleted or Changed

The most concrete changes are the ones that can be counted. Each dataset is a collection the government once maintained and published — figures on the economy, the environment, public health and much else that researchers, businesses, journalists and ordinary Americans rely on. Nearly 400 have now been terminated or altered.

The Treasury example shows how directly the blueprint has been followed. Project 2025 recommended ending the collection of shell-company ownership data, used to trace who really owns companies and to fight money laundering, and the Treasury terminated it this summer. At the EPA, the agency deleted its climate research website, and the administration dismissed hundreds of National Climate Assessment scientists. Other recommendations are still in progress: the administration is trying to reshape the 2030 census by excluding some immigrants from the apportionment survey and adding a citizenship question. Project 2025 went further, proposing to scrap the race and ethnicity questions altogether.

Reactions

Neither the White House nor the Heritage Foundation responded to the Guardian's findings. That silence leaves the administration's own account unheard, but the record speaks through the government's actions: datasets terminated, webpages deleted, scientists dismissed and rules rewritten.

The Guardian's verdict is blunt: the administration has implemented "most of them", and 42 more recommendations are in progress. The examples are not random targets — each one appears in the blueprint, and each one has now been acted on. For researchers, the pattern is the story: the government is collecting less of exactly the information the blueprint said to stop collecting.

Why It Matters

Federal data is the raw material of American public life. It tells businesses where to invest, doctors where disease is spreading and voters who represents them. When datasets disappear, researchers lose the baselines they need to spot new problems, journalists lose the records they need to hold power to account, and the public loses shared facts.

The census is the highest-stakes example. The count decides how the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are divided between the states and guides hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending. The climate data matters too: the National Climate Assessment is the government's own account of how a warming planet affects farms, coasts, cities and health.

What Happens Next

The 42 recommendations the Guardian describes as in progress are the next test, above all the 2030 census. The administration is pushing to exclude some immigrants from the apportionment survey and to add a citizenship question, changes that will almost certainly be challenged in court.

The blueprint's proposal to scrap the race and ethnicity questions has not been adopted yet and would face even steeper opposition, since those questions are embedded in voting rights and civil rights enforcement. The datasets already terminated are unlikely to come back: once a data collection stops, the series breaks, and rebuilding it takes years and money.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Project 2025?
The Heritage Foundation's 900-page policy blueprint for a conservative administration, including at least 92 calls to delete data, censor scientific information, repeal transparency laws or abolish offices that produce data.

What did the Guardian find?
Published November 11, 2026, it found the Trump administration has implemented "most of them", with another 42 in progress; nearly 400 datasets have been terminated or altered.

Which datasets have been deleted or changed?
The Treasury ended shell-company ownership data collection, the EPA deleted its climate research website, hundreds of National Climate Assessment scientists were dismissed, and the Transportation Department narrowed self-driving crash reporting rules.

Is the 2030 census changing?
The administration is trying to exclude some immigrants from the apportionment survey and add a citizenship question. Project 2025 proposed scrapping the race and ethnicity questions, which has not happened yet.

Did the White House or the Heritage Foundation respond?
No. The Guardian said neither responded to its findings.

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