After a Rocky Few Months, BLS Gets a New Nominee

President Donald Trump announced late Friday that he intends to nominate Brett Matsumoto, a veteran economist already working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to lead the agency. It's been a bumpy ride for the BLS since August, when Trump abruptly fired the agency's commissioner.

"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social. The position comes with a four-year term and requires Senate confirmation.

The Bureau That Measures Everything

The BLS is one of those agencies that most people don't think about until someone argues about whether inflation is real or the jobs numbers are fake. It's responsible for compiling the economic indicators that move markets and shape policy decisions: the monthly jobs report, inflation data, and other measures that gauge how the world's largest economy is actually doing. The bureau prides itself on being non-partisan, which makes sense when your job is counting things.

But the agency has been operating under intense pressure lately. Like many statistical agencies, it faces tight budgets and staffing constraints, problems that have gotten worse during Trump's second term and forced cutbacks in some data collection efforts.

How We Got Here

The drama started last summer when job growth slowed sharply. Trump didn't take it well, claiming the data were rigged. He fired Commissioner Erika McEntarfer midway through her term, right after a disappointing jobs report landed.

Then things got interesting. Trump picked E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to run the agency. That nomination lasted about as long as you'd expect once people remembered Antoni's very public criticisms of the BLS and his vocal political views. Trump pulled the nomination in September after widespread backlash.

Meet the New Nominee

Matsumoto comes from inside the building. He joined the BLS in 2015 and works in the Division of Price and Index Number Research. He holds a Ph.D. in economics and recently served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

"Brett Matsumoto is a Brilliant, Reputable, and Trusted Economist who will restore GREATNESS to the Bureau of Labor Statistics," Trump said Friday.

If the Senate confirms him, Matsumoto would replace acting BLS Commissioner William Wiatrowski, who's been running things since McEntarfer was fired.

The announcement came on the same day Trump formally nominated Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, a move that had been telegraphed to markets for days.