Democrat Senators recently raised concerns about White House “plans to implement changes to economic data collection, analyses, and reporting,” following the delayed release of the Consumer Expenditure Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and considering serious funding impediments.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 11 other Democrat Senators wrote to the White House and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on September 22, 2025, noting that, “Federal economic statistics serve as the bedrock of our economy. Companies rely on this information for hiring, expansion, and strategic planning decisions that drive job creation and economic growth. Government programs use economic data for distributing federal assistance and Social Security payments affecting more than 70 million Americans. Financial markets depend on this data, which ‘underpins the pricing for trillions of dollars in assets globally,’ and the Federal Reserve uses the data to inform monetary policy decisions that affect every American’s economic well-being. The data is also critical to our international credibility, as foreign investors hold one-third of all U.S. Treasuries.”
The letter warned that “BLS and other statistical agencies – including the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Census Bureau – have a responsibility to strengthen data collection processes, but have been strained by chronic resource shortfalls. Budget growth has not kept pace with rising operational costs, forcing these agencies to contend with aging technology. Meanwhile, staffing shortages stemming from Trump’s federal hiring freeze have impaired the agencies’ data collection processes, including for inflation measurement.”
The senators concluded that, “If the Administration is serious about improving the quality of economic data, they should ensure that federal statistics agencies have the appropriate resources to modernize statistical methods and increase survey response rates.”
