New Report on the Health of Federal Statistics

Mid-Year Update Release: On July 28, we released a report about the resources and leadership supporting federal statistics and the updates since our December 2025 report. We concluded, "the cumulative loss of resources raises serious concerns and questions about long-term capacity. In particular, the loss of staff, both in number and in role—from longtime employees with deep expertise and institutional knowledge, as well as leadership and mentorship roles, to early-career staff with the latest methodological and technical training—and the leadership gaps, coupled with recent policy changes, put the agencies in a weakened and vulnerable position to meet rigorous production schedules; sustain the necessary, challenging work to keep up with the demands of producing relevant, timely, and accurate statistics for decision-makers and the public; and ensure their products are credible and objective."

Changes to the Federal Statistical System: Monthly Update*

Agency leadership advances: The National Center for Health Statistics advertised for its director position on July 16, and a Senate panel advanced on July 15 the nomination of the president’s nominee for Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner.

Additional agencies hiring: The National Agricultural Statistics Service advertised dozens of positions at its Olivette, Missouri, location, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics is hiring for three positions. This is the first hiring we are aware of for both agencies under the current administration. That we know of, seven statistical agencies have been allowed to hire in the past year.

NASS relocation and modernization plan: The NASS hiring in Missouri is part of its relocation out of Washington, DC, which raised concerns for further staff loss and agency capacity, given that the agency had already lost 40% in the last 18 months. The number of positions being moved to Missouri has not been publicly shared. Declines in NASS survey response rates and concerns for some of their estimates are presumably behind the US Department of Agriculture announcing it will “release a [NASS] modernization plan later this summer focused on improving transparency, streamlining reporting systems, and restoring confidence in USDA data.”

*Unless conditions warrant, our next Count on Stats newsletter will be in September.

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It is you, the data user community, who are the most knowledgeable and invested, and therefore best positioned to help us track such changes given the number, breadth, and detail of the federal statistical agency products.

We are committed to being as respectful of your time as possible. Beginning later this year, we will send an email query every three to four months asking if you have observed any changes in the statistical agency products you follow most closely. If so, we will ask you to provide us with the details and documentation via a Google form provided with the email query.

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