In a Friday post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he would nominate Brett Matsumoto to lead the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), an essential federal statistical agency that collects and publishes U.S. data on employment, inflation and productivity.
Matsumoto is no stranger to the BLS or the president. He joined BLS in 2015 as a research economist and has been serving as a supervisory research economist in the agency’s Division of Price and Index Number Research since September 2024.
Serving as a senior economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisers from early 2019 to mid-2020 during the first Trump administration, Matsumoto then rejoined the president’s inner economic council in April 2025, where he has been serving since.
“I am confident that Brett has the expertise to QUICKLY fix the long history of issues at the BLS on behalf of the American People,” wrote Trump, announcing his selection of Matsumoto while continuing to launch unsubstantiated attacks against the credibility of an agency that has attracted the president’s ire often during the first half of his second term.
Trump claimed without evidence last August that the data behind a lackluster employment report for July was “rigged,” one in a series of reports that underscored how Trump’s signature but widely unpopular tariff policies were halting hiring and job creation across numerous industries. Data shows U.S. buyers are paying nearly all of the import tax.
The president quickly fired then-Commissioner Erika McEntarfer just hours after the July jobs report was released, claiming the numbers had been manipulated “in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” wrote Trump on social media.
Erica Groshen, former commissioner of the BLS from 2013 to 2017, tells Scotsman Guide that Matsumoto’s dual exposure to the intricacies of federal data collection and the demands for that data from policymakers would strengthen his ability to lead the agency, should a formal nomination and Senate confirmation follow.
“Having worked at BLS for 10 years, he understands the mission and the importance of the work they do,” said Groshen, who led the agency when Matsumoto first joined in 2015. As a “technocrat” or “data nerd,” she said, “he’s representative of a lot of people at BLS.”
“I think it’s fair to say that some of the concerns that the previous nominee raised won’t be a factor in his case,” Groshen added, referring to Trump’s informal and short-lived nomination of E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead BLS less than two weeks after firing McEntarfer.
The president pulled his nomination amid backlash and subsequent reporting that Antoni had been in the crowd that later stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. The administration described Antoni as a “bystander” at the Capitol.
The response to Matsumoto’s being tapped to lead the agency has been much more favorable.
Paul Schroeder, executive director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, told Scotsman Guide he was “somewhat reassured” by the nomination.
“He has been at BLS the past 10 years, and that he’s a research economist rather than a pure political appointee, I think that’s good,” said Schroeder. He added that the agency needs modernization, and though a modernization plan has been in the works since the early 2010s, disruptions to staffing and funding have consistently delayed that progress.
“Now the plans need modernization,” said Schroeder, lamenting the drawn-out process.
Matsumoto did not respond to Scotsman Guide’s request for comment about such modernization plans, leadership priorities and whether he agrees with Trump’s assessment of the current state of the BLS.
“For many years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, under WEAK and STUPID people, has been FAILING American Businesses, Policymakers, and Families by releasing VERY inaccurate numbers,” wrote Trump in the same post in which he announced Matsumoto’s nomination.
Bill Beach, a former BLS commissioner who served from 2019 to 2023, succeeding Groshen but preceding McEntarfer, told The Wall Street Journal that Matsumoto will likely be “a popular choice within the bureau.” Beach did not return Scotsman Guide’s request for comment by the time of publication.
If confirmed by the Senate, Matsumoto would replace acting BLS Commissioner William Wiatrowski, a veteran staffer who has led the agency since McEntarfer’s abrupt termination.
