House panel seeks September hearing on federal data agency staffing cuts and impact

Ranking Member Bobby Scott of the House Education and Workforce Committee has written to Chairman Rep. Tim Walberg requesting a September hearing to examine the consequences of recent staffing reductions and leadership vacancies at federal statistical agencies. His request follows an American Statistical Association mid-year report that documented cuts across all 13 principal agencies, with six shedding at least a third of their workforce and two losing more than two-thirds.

Scott’s proposed hearing would target the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, which saw its staff drop from about 100 to four before modest rebuilding. The report warns that these cuts jeopardize timely, accurate statistics, citing the BLS’s cessation of monthly state-by-state job data and the ERS’s relocation plan that prompted union lawsuits.

Earlier, President Donald Trump dismissed the BLS chief after a jobs report showed slowing hiring, raising questions about agency autonomy. Scott argues that understanding the erosion of the federal statistical infrastructure is essential for policymakers and the public.