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Trump's latest pick to lead the BLS faces challenging job ahead
Recruitment & Retention
Trump’s latest pick to lead the BLS faces challenging job ahead
The president nominated career labor statistician Brett Matsumoto to lead the agency late last month.
By Paige McGlauflin
February 10, 2026 • 3 min read
Paige McGlauflin is a reporter for HR Brew covering recruitment and retention.
After six months without a leader, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) may soon have a commissioner. ... On Jan. 30, President Trump named Brett Matsumoto as his nominee to lead the BLS. Matsumoto is a longtime statistician at the government statistical agency, who is known by economists for his nuanced takes on data and also served on the White House Council of Economic Advisors during both Trump administrations. The BLS hasn’t had a permanent commissioner since early August, when Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, claiming, without any evidence, that the jobs report had been “manipulated for political purposes” under her watch.
In some ways, Matsumoto’s nomination might be a breath of fresh air for politicians and those who rely on BLS data, including business leaders. President Trump previously nominated conservative Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to the role, generating pushback from politicians and economists on both sides of the aisle who warned that Antoni was “utterly unqualified” for the job. Trump ultimately withdrew his nomination.
Matsumoto’s nomination signals that employers who rely on the data won’t need to worry about political interference with BLS processes, sources told HR Brew. ... “You don’t want job statistics to be political football. It shouldn’t be that,” said Rick Hermanns, chairman and CEO of staffing firm HireQuest. “People make real decisions that lead to real consequences for real people. And you don’t want that made off of bad information.”
The road ahead. Matsumoto, should he be confirmed to lead the BLS, will lead the agency at a challenging time. Funding for the agency fell more than 22% between 2010 and 2025—and is expected to likely decline further in 2026—and its staff was recently reduced by nearly one-quarter. Limited resources have forced the BLS to suspend some important reports, including the monthly state JOLTS data, which will now publish annually, and struggle to catch up after a record-long government shutdown paused its operations for much of October and November.
{snip}
Trump’s latest pick to lead the BLS faces challenging job ahead
The president nominated career labor statistician Brett Matsumoto to lead the agency late last month.
By Paige McGlauflin
February 10, 2026 • 3 min read
Paige McGlauflin is a reporter for HR Brew covering recruitment and retention.
After six months without a leader, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) may soon have a commissioner. ... On Jan. 30, President Trump named Brett Matsumoto as his nominee to lead the BLS. Matsumoto is a longtime statistician at the government statistical agency, who is known by economists for his nuanced takes on data and also served on the White House Council of Economic Advisors during both Trump administrations. The BLS hasn’t had a permanent commissioner since early August, when Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, claiming, without any evidence, that the jobs report had been “manipulated for political purposes” under her watch.
In some ways, Matsumoto’s nomination might be a breath of fresh air for politicians and those who rely on BLS data, including business leaders. President Trump previously nominated conservative Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to the role, generating pushback from politicians and economists on both sides of the aisle who warned that Antoni was “utterly unqualified” for the job. Trump ultimately withdrew his nomination.
Matsumoto’s nomination signals that employers who rely on the data won’t need to worry about political interference with BLS processes, sources told HR Brew. ... “You don’t want job statistics to be political football. It shouldn’t be that,” said Rick Hermanns, chairman and CEO of staffing firm HireQuest. “People make real decisions that lead to real consequences for real people. And you don’t want that made off of bad information.”
The road ahead. Matsumoto, should he be confirmed to lead the BLS, will lead the agency at a challenging time. Funding for the agency fell more than 22% between 2010 and 2025—and is expected to likely decline further in 2026—and its staff was recently reduced by nearly one-quarter. Limited resources have forced the BLS to suspend some important reports, including the monthly state JOLTS data, which will now publish annually, and struggle to catch up after a record-long government shutdown paused its operations for much of October and November.
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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
Reporter
Email Parker Purifoy
Tweet Parker Purifoy
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.
{snip}
Daily Labor Report
Trump’s BLS Pick to Contend With Leadership Vacuum, Staff Losses
Feb. 9, 2026, 5:15 AM EST
Parker Purifoy
Reporter
Email Parker Purifoy
Tweet Parker Purifoy
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.
{snip}