Peggy Carr, the fired National Center for Education Statistics commissioner, and researchers warned that staff cuts and contract cancellations at the Department of Education have gutted federal education research capacity and delayed key data releases. Officials say the reductions have eroded the agency’s ability to monitor academic achievement, educator workforce trends and the condition of schools. Public comments submitted to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) urged the department to rebuild staffing and restore funding; researchers urged modernizing federal research operations to produce timely, usable data. IES has solicited public input even as the administration’s 2026 budget proposal calls for a dramatic reduction in the institute’s funding. The decline in federal data and research capacity affects higher education planning, policymaking and accountability, reducing the sector’s visibility into K–12 pipelines, postsecondary readiness and longitudinal outcomes that universities use for admissions and student-success strategies.