Schneier on Security

ResearcherZero • July 11, 2026 4:18 AM

De-funding public access to government records and data.

The National Archives and Records Administration is closing its facilities in Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle. Staffing was additionally cut by more than 500 employees. Funding has been in dire circumstances for many years and the administration is operating with a reduced budget which hampers its ability to properly function.

In 2024 a major report on the status of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) warned that NARA desperately needed more funding in order to continue reviewing and declassifying records and meet Freedom of Information requests requirements. As electronic records add to the problem of paper records already overwhelming NARA, the lack of staffing, adequate equipment and infrastructure has seen the backlog of requests grow to the point where requests can become stuck in queues of 12 years waiting to be processed.

Many records will now no longer make it to the National Archives. That information will become lost to the public. As public record and federal data access is reduced for the public, or becomes entirely unavailable in many cases, the Trump administration is amassing data for itself to further its own interests and amass even greater power and control. Abrupt changes to how data is collected, have altered once comparable datasets and how information can be looked at over time, obscuring and distorting how different data might be interpreted.

Now the Trump administration has begun closing public records facilities containing historical records, gutting the National Archives and deleting or removing access to federal data. Important programs that collect vital statistics and information are being de-funded, wound back and ended. Scientific and historical data is also being deleted as the Trump administration makes changes to government websites, agencies and services.

The cost of filing FOI requests has become out of reach for many. Only corporations and the wealthy will have the time and money necessary. Changes to how census and economic data are collected will add to the reduction in data that is available to the public. Removal of scientific and historical information worsens the problem. As facts disappear and access to historical records is lost, fabrications, misinformation and lies will fill the gaps.

Without the paper trail, the public cannot hold government accountable for its actions. This is taking place while the government consolidates data for itself and massively expands its surveillance capabilities.

When history is rewritten, citizens can find themselves written out of it without warning, as the foundations of society shift around them and administrative errors alter reality.

For members of the public to protect their rights, property and liberty, access to public records can be essential. Without that access, the ability of citizens to defend themselves from unreasonable or criminal actions becomes far more difficult. Proving ownership, ancestry or events – perhaps might become impossible – if the documentation required to ascertain certain facts, is no longer accessible or perhaps no longer exists.