How Trump’s White House Could Mess With Government Data

Numbers and data are a backbone of modern life. We cite them buzzily at bars and soberly to bosses so often that “studies show” might as well be given its own entry in the dictionary. Much of what we cite comes from government data — weather patterns, the population or average income of a city, even honeybee activity — collected across innumerable departments, agencies and centers, then made public.Now, watchdogs are worried that a Donald Trump administration could erode the quality of government data collection and systems.