The US Senate confirmed career economist Brett Matsumoto as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in a 51-47 vote on August 7, 2026. The appointment fills a vacancy left by President Donald Trump's abrupt firing of Erika McEntarfer in August 2025. Matsumoto faces an agency severely strained by a 43-day government shutdown, budget cuts, and the loss of over a third of its senior staff, alongside looming concerns over administration plans to strip job protections from federal policy workers.
Matsumoto Senate confirmation
- ▪Brett Matsumoto, an inflation expert who joined the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2015, holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- ▪The US Senate confirmed career economist Brett Matsumoto as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in a 51-47 vote on August 7, 2026
McEntarfer firing over jobs data
- ▪President Donald Trump fired former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August 2025, accusing her without evidence of manipulating July 2025 employment data
- ▪Prior to nominating Brett Matsumoto, President Donald Trump nominated conservative economist E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but withdrew the nomination due to Republican opposition
BLS staffing losses
- ▪The Bureau of Labor Statistics lost numerous experienced economists and researchers following mass layoffs and resignations, leaving over a third of senior-level positions vacant at the start of 2026
- ▪Due to resource constraints, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reduced its Consumer Price Index collection sample and terminated approximately 350 indexes in its producer price report in 2025
Shutdown data collection gaps
- ▪The Bureau of Labor Statistics held open forums with private economists and researchers in May 2026 to discuss options for addressing data gaps caused by the 2025 government shutdown
- ▪A 43-day government shutdown in 2025 prevented the Bureau of Labor Statistics from collecting data and publishing the October 2025 unemployment rate and other household survey metrics
Federal job reclassification concerns
- ▪Former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erica Groshen warned that applying the 'Schedule Policy/Career' reclassification to statistical agencies would undermine public trust in economic data
- ▪The Trump administration is pushing to reclassify an estimated 50,000 federal employees under a new 'Schedule Policy/Career' designation, stripping them of civil service job protections
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