President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will nominate economist Brett Matsumoto to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), while sharply rebuking the agency for what he called years of faulty economic data.
According to Newsmax, Trump used his Truth Social platform to level an unusually direct attack on the federal statistics agency, accusing it of undermining businesses, policymakers, and families with unreliable reports. He wrote: "For many years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, under WEAK and STUPID people, has been FAILING American Businesses, Policymakers, and Families by releasing VERY inaccurate numbers."
Trump went on to say, "That is why I FIRED the former Commissioner, and am pleased to nominate the very talented Brett Matsumoto as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)." The President framed the move as part of a broader effort to restore integrity and competence to federal economic reporting, a longstanding concern among conservatives who have questioned the neutrality and accuracy of official data.
In his post, Trump highlighted Matsumotos prior service inside the agency and his current role advising the Trump team on economic policy. "Brett was a Supervisory Research Economist for the BLS, but is now serving as a Senior Economist on the Trump Council of Economic Advisers, like he did in my First Term," Trump wrote, underscoring his preference for appointees who share his skepticism of the entrenched federal bureaucracy.
Trump praised Matsumoto in characteristically emphatic terms, casting him as the right figure to overhaul an institution he portrays as deeply flawed. "I am confident that Brett has the expertise to QUICKLY fix the long history of issues at the BLS on behalf of the American People. Brett Matsumoto is a Brilliant, Reputable, and Trusted Economist who will restore GREATNESS to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Congratulations, Brett!" he declared.
The former presidents announcement follows his decision in August to remove Erika McEntarfer, the prior Senate-confirmed BLS commissioner, after he publicly criticized a jobs report and revisions to earlier payroll estimates. At the time, Trump alleged serious problems with the data but did not present specific evidence that the agency had deliberately manipulated the figures, instead arguing that the pattern of revisions and errors spoke for itself.
While Trumps critics have dismissed his attacks as political, the BLS itself has acknowledged several recent data issues and limitations in formal notices and technical documents. In a preliminary benchmark revision released in September 2025, the agency reported that payroll employment for the 12 months ending March 2025 had been revised downward by 911,000 jobs in its preliminary estimates, a substantial adjustment that fueled further doubts about the reliability of headline numbers.
In another instance, the BLS disclosed in June 2025 that it would correct some April 2025 household-survey estimates because of "minor errors to weights" associated with a redesigned Current Population Survey sample. The agency insisted that key labor force indicators, including the unemployment rate, were unaffected and described the overall impact as negligible, yet the admission reinforced concerns about the technical underpinnings of widely cited statistics.
The BLS has also reported growing constraints on its ability to collect inflation data, a development with serious implications for families and businesses already squeezed by rising prices. In a June 2025 notice, the agency announced it was reducing Consumer Price Index (CPI) sample collection in various regions, even suspending collection entirely in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah, in April, and in Buffalo, New York, in June, citing the need to align workload with limited resources and warning that some local or item-specific indexes could become more volatile.
More recently, BLS materials have documented gaps created by the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations, which interrupted normal data-gathering operations. The agency acknowledged that it missed October 2025 data collection for certain CPI survey items and stated that those data could not be retroactively collected, leaving holes in the official inflation record at a time when Americans are demanding clarity on the cost of living.
Matsumoto, who has worked at the BLS since 2015 and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has built his career inside the federal statistical system rather than in partisan politics. He recently served on detail at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, giving him direct experience with how BLS data shape policy debates, but he has relatively little prior political exposure compared with many high-profile Washington appointees.
If confirmed, Matsumoto would assume leadership of an agency that sits at the center of national debates over jobs, wages, and inflation, and whose reports can move markets and influence elections.
His nomination will require Senate confirmation, setting up a potential clash between Republicans eager to reform what they see as an unaccountable data bureaucracy and Democrats likely to defend the status quo and portray Trumps criticisms as an attack on civil servants.
For conservatives, the stakes extend well beyond a single appointment, touching on broader questions about transparency, accountability, and the politicization of federal institutions. Trumps decision to elevate an internal expert who has worked both within the BLS and alongside his economic team signals an effort to pair technical competence with a mandate for reform, aiming to ensure that the numbers guiding public policy reflect economic reality rather than bureaucratic convenience.
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