We Can't Trust a Trump Nominee at the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Phone scripts and email tools to demand senators reject Brett Matsumoto's nomination
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: Congress.gov
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is one of those crucial but often ignored pieces of infrastructure that keep our economy running. The public and private sector depend on it for decision-making about investments, interest rates, pay, and hiring decisions, and meddling with it so the product is no longer independent and reliable could mean we get more of those decisions wrong, with serious real-world harm to our pocketbooks. As former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer has said, “messing with economic data is like messing with the traffic lights and turning the sensors off.”
Donald Trump doesn’t care. He’s already fired and smeared McEntarfer in response to multiple BLS reports indicating our economy was stalling out, and then attempted to install an unqualified partisan hack in her place. While Trump was forced to withdraw Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, he is trying again with a pick announced on January 30: Brett Matsumoto.
We should all be extremely concerned about the prospect that Trump’s pick will manipulate data to make Trump look good, if only to keep his job. And this hire is especially important to get right, as the next BLS commissioner will have authority to fill a large number of vacant leadership positions, which could be used to undermine their commitment to accuracy over loyalty to a partisan agenda.
Further, the confirmation of any Trump nominee to fill McEntarfer’s spot will serve as an effective rubber stamp of his actions, setting a new norm that presidents should be allowed to punish public servants for reporting reality and creating a lasting chilling effect on whoever holds the position.
📞 Let’s reach out to our senators and tell them we expect them to vote no on Matsumoto and use their full power to stall this confirmation process. McEntarfer should be reinstated or Trump should be blocked from filling the position. We can find call scripts below and send this email by texting SIGN PWNTJA to 50409. 📞
Last updated 2/2/26.
PHONE SCRIPTS
You can find your senator’s contact info here. Please adjust, add, and reword as you would see fit - you will be most effective speaking in your own words!
Hi, my name is _________, and I’m a constituent from (city, zip). (If voicemail, leave street address).
I am calling to urge Senator ______ to oppose Trump’s nomination of Brett Matsumoto to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and to do everything in their power to stall the confirmation process.
The President fired the last commissioner for releasing accurate information about our economy. We can’t trust his pick not to manipulate data, and make Trump look good at our expense. Either Erika McEntarfer must be reinstated or Trump should be blocked from filling the job.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
EMAIL LANGUAGE
We can send this message directly to our members of Congress by texting SIGN PWNTJA to 50409, or use it as a starting point for the standard congressional email system.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is one of those crucial but often ignored pieces of infrastructure that keep our economy running. The public and private sector depend on it for decision-making about investments, interest rates, pay, and hiring decisions. Meddling with it so the product is no longer independent and reliable could mean we get more of those decisions wrong, with serious real-world harm to our pocketbooks. As former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer has said, “messing with economic data is like messing with the traffic lights and turning the sensors off.”
We cannot trust anyone Donald Trump nominates to lead this bureau to prioritize accuracy over serving their political patron. Please oppose his selection, Brett Matsumoto, and do everything in your power as a senator to stall the confirmation process.
The President has made it obvious that what matters to him is BLS information conforming to his narrative, rather than reality. He fired and publicly smeared McEntarfer because the bureau’s reports correctly showed the economy struggling under his administration. He then attempted to replace her with someone even his ideological allies dismissed as an unqualified, partisan hack. It would be foolish after these banana republic tactics to believe he has somehow accepted the importance of an apolitical agency.
Even if Matsumoto intends to serve the public honestly, how can he do so with this sword hanging over his head? The precedent is there for him to be targeted and terminated for doing his job well. The White House does not lead to lift another finger to interfere with BLS’ work. The chilling effect will touch whoever fills this position.
The United States Senate must insist on the reinstatement of McEntarfer, and barring that must treat Trump’s selections as effectively compromised. Please put the economic well-being of regular Americans first and stop them from moving forward.