Trump's latest pick to lead the BLS faces challenging job ahead

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1. Trump's BLS Pick to Contend With Leadership Vacuum, Staff Losses

Bloomberg Law
Daily Labor Report

Trump’s BLS Pick to Contend With Leadership Vacuum, Staff Losses

Feb. 9, 2026, 5:15 AM EST
Parker Purifoy
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Images of President Donald Trump and former President Theodore Roosevelt are displayed on the side of the Department of Labor.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics will go up against critical leadership gaps and staffing shortages that threaten the agency’s role in informing economic policy. ... Trump’s choice of a career labor economist and civil servant in Brett Matsumoto has somewhat cooled fears the president wants to exert political influence over the BLS, which is supposed to be a nonpolitical agency, economists and former agency officials say.

But running an agency during the Trump era that generates data and reporting used across the government to guide policymaking is itself a challenge that will likely be exacerbated by elevated fears of presidential interference and the recent loss of nearly a quarter of BLS staff.

Matsumoto is Trump’s second nominee for the position. The White House withdrew the first pick, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, from consideration when several key Republican senators refused to meet with him and indicated that his political positions made him unsuitable for the post. Antoni advocated for releasing jobs data on a quarterly basis instead of monthly.

“I felt some relief,” said Erica Groshen, a former BLS Commissioner under the Obama and first Trump administrations, of Matsumoto’s selection. “From my point of view, the prior nominee didn’t really check a lot of boxes so I was happy to see that we’re getting someone who has a strong professional record and knows BLS from the inside.” ... Matsumoto isn’t yet officially listed among nominees awaiting confirmation, a sign the White House hasn’t sent the required paperwork to the Senate.

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