Former U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioners have warned that President Donald Trump’s repeated and unfounded attacks on the agency’s integrity are damaging public trust in official economic data and driving experienced staff into early retirement.
During a discussion at the Cato Institute on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, former commissioners Erica Groshen and William Beach, who each led the BLS under presidents from opposing parties, said the agency had lost 12 of its 35 senior leaders amid ongoing political pressure. The BLS is responsible for producing key national reports on employment, inflation, and productivity, which are widely used by policymakers, businesses, and investors.
Trump has frequently accused the BLS of “faking” its jobs numbers, claims that both current and former officials have strongly denied.
“Trust … for statistical agencies, it is mission critical. Unwarranted attacks on the integrity of BLS and the other parts of the statistical system will do lasting damage until trust is rebuilt,” said Groshen. “So this is a bad place for the agencies, and we need to recover from it. I trust that the more informed and sober minds in our country will work hard to repair that damage.”
In August, Trump abruptly fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, following downward revisions to job growth figures for June and July. McEntarfer, who had been appointed in 2024 by former President Joe Biden, was replaced temporarily after Trump’s administration withdrew its nomination of conservative economist E.J. Antoni for the position last week.
The political turbulence has compounded challenges at the BLS and other federal statistical agencies. Trump’s push to reduce the size of the federal workforce, coupled with rising internal pressure, has triggered a wave of early retirements among experienced staff. Agencies such as the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis are now facing vacancy rates of around 20%.
Former Commissioners Urge Modernization and Stability
Beach emphasized that political attacks, even when well-intentioned, can cripple institutional performance if not managed carefully.
“Let’s just say it was a well-meaning attack,” Beach said. “When that was done, there should have been, or before that was done, some thought to the infrastructure in the agency. This is like building a bridge, and if your key construction workers and architects are suddenly missing because they have lost heart in the project, that bridge is very likely not to be as strong a bridge or as useful to the public.”
Revisions to job data are a normal part of the BLS’s methodology and not unique to the Trump administration. Groshen noted that similar adjustments also frustrated former President Barack Obama’s team.
These revisions often stem from low survey response rates among businesses and the agency’s reliance on the “birth-and-death” model, which estimates employment changes from business openings and closures that are not immediately captured in monthly surveys.
Digital Transformation Could Strengthen Data Accuracy
The former commissioners advocated for modernizing data collection by leveraging online systems, noting that countries that have adopted digital reporting tools have seen improved participation and accuracy.
“It turns out response rates are much higher if you have an internet interface for doing this. But it’s not trivial to move a survey to that platform,” Groshen explained. “You have to do a lot of experimentation, but when we get there, response rates will probably go way up. The cost per response will be much lower, and then you’ll have the resources to go after the people who are really hard to get.”
Both Groshen and Beach agreed that rebuilding trust in the nation’s economic data system is essential to maintaining public confidence, sound policymaking, and market stability, all of which depend on the credibility of institutions like the BLS.
