Warren, Warnock Press Fed on Safeguards for Inflation and Jobs Decisions Citing Trump’s Politicization of Economic Data
“One thing we all agree on is the importance of accurate and high-quality economic data. Without it, policymakers would lack a necessary tool to improve the economy for American consumers, workers, and businesses.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy, sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raising concerns about the Trump Administration’s escalating efforts to politicize and dismantle the nation’s independent economic data infrastructure.
The letter cites a series of recent actions by the Trump Administration that threaten the independence and reliability of key economic statistics, including the dismantling of multiple advisory committees at the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). These committees—made up of unpaid, nonpartisan economists and data experts—have historically played a crucial role in ensuring the quality of critical data like jobs, wage growth, inflation, and GDP.
“We write today to request information about how the Federal Reserve (the Fed) plans to protect the integrity of the data it relies on for critical economic decisions, amid disturbing reports that the Trump Administration has dismissed several key economic advisers and data experts at the Departments of Labor and Commerce (DOL, Commerce),” the Senators wrote. “The Federal Reserve relies on data from these agencies to set interest rates and take other actions to execute its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices.
The Senators also request answers about how the Federal Reserve plans to safeguard the accuracy and integrity of the data it uses to set interest rates and manage inflation and employment, including whether the Fed has protocols to vet data from outside agencies, how the dismantling of advisory committees could impact the Fed’s ability to meet its dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment, and how the Fed has historically used data shaped by the now-disbanded advisory groups.
“One thing we all agree on is the importance of accurate and high-quality economic data. Without it, policymakers would lack a necessary tool to improve the economy for American consumers, workers, and businesses. To help us better understand how the Fed plans to protect its economic data, including statistics sent from BLS and BEA, we request answers to the following questions no later than April 25, 2025,” the Senators wrote.
###
Next Article Previous Article