Building on the Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act), the Biden-Harris Administration has taken important actions to measure and improve the impact of federal government programs through evidence and data. These actions reflect a commitment to evidence-based policies in addressing a wide range of issues such as education, public health, racial equity, and economic mobility.
On this page Results for America will track and analyze efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to infuse evidence and data into federal policymaking and budget decisions over the course of its tenure.
WHITE HOUSE
- A Memorandum on Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking that emphasizes the Administration’s commitment to science, data and evidence free from political interference.
- An Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities that creates a new Equitable Data Working Group to improve federal data policies because the “first step to promoting equity in Government action is to gather the data necessary to inform that effort.”
- An Executive Order on Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 to increase the gathering, sharing, and publication of data to help federal, state, local, and Tribal leaders make informed decisions to address the pandemic as well as future public health threats.
- An Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continued Operation of Schools that calls for greater collection of data to “fully understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators.”
- A Memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget on Evidence-Based Policymaking: Learning Agendas and Annual Evaluation Plans, which offers guidance to federal agency leaders on how to implement the Evidence Act and “engage in creating a culture of evidence in their agencies and support their staff in undertaking this work.”
- Evaluation.Gov – the Office of Management and Budget’s newly established website that serves as a home for federal program evaluation and the Evaluation Officer Council, and brings together the plans and activities that drive evaluation efforts across the federal government.
- An Executive Order on the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans that would improve data collection and promote evidence-based practices and strategies that help improve outcomes for Black students.
- The Federal Data Strategy 2021 Action Plan, released by the Office of Management and Budget, setting new interagency goals for the year to improve the sharing and use of data to inform budget, management and policy decisions.
- A first-of-its-kind Memorandum by the the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the White House Council on Environmental Quality that commits to elevating Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) in federal scientific and policy processes.
- The Biden-Harris Management Agenda Vision, released by the Office of Management and Budget, outlining the Administration’s roadmap for ensuring an equitable, effective, and accountable federal government.
- An Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government that seeks to build a more “effective, equitable and accountable government” through 36 customer experience improvement commitments across 17 federal agencies.