Warren Questions Trump Administration on Political Interference with Commerce Department’s Economic and Census Data Collection, Reporting

Warren Questions Trump Administration on Political Interference with Commerce Department's Economic and Census Data Collection, Reporting

"Commerce's decision to remove the ban on political interference in its scientific integrity policy threatens the accuracy and reliability of statistics collected and produced by its agencies…upon which policymakers…and businesses rely to analyze the economy and make critical decisions impacting households."

Letter to Commerce (PDF) | Letter to OMB (PDF) | Letter to Fed (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, Chief Statistician of the United States Stuart Levenbach, and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, requesting information about the Department of Commerce's recent decision to remove the ban on political interference in its scientific integrity policy.

The move reduces the reliability of statistics collected and produced by the department's agencies, including the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

The letters follow recent reports that Commerce's Office of Privacy and Open Government issued a directive that would open the door for political interference in its scientific reports and activities. The new policy terminated commitments to guard against the "suppres[ion] [delay], or alter[ation]" of data.

The revised policy has major implications for a wide range of policy issues, including the quality of our economic data, the congressional redistricting process, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions, all of which rely on credible data from the Census Bureau and BEA.

"Amid the Trump Administration's broader assault on the integrity of the nation's statistical system, in which you and the Department have played a key role, you owe the public a clear explanation of why the Department removed this language and how it arrived at this decision," Ranking Member Warren wrote to Secretary Lutnick.

The Ranking Member also cited previous instances of the Trump Administration's attacks against the United States' statistical system. This effort has included terminating key third-party data advisory committees; firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner on unsubstantiated claims that she manipulated employment data; failing, for the first time ever, to release monthly jobs data; altering inflation methodology with minimal transparency; and barring a widely used data collection method without consulting career staff, a move that could reduce the data available to communities, businesses, and policymakers.

"This is not an isolated incident. Indeed, you appear to be using the Department to wield an unprecedented influence over the nation's election system," the Ranking Member continued.

"OMB, which coordinates the Federal Statistical System that includes the Census Bureau and BEA, owes the public a clear explanation of its role in Commerce's decision to remove this language and its impacts on the other Federal statistical agencies," Ranking Member Warren wrote to Director Vought and Chief Statistician Levenbach.

"The Fed has an obligation to the American public to both ensure its policymaking rests on objective data and to be transparent about how it is meeting that obligation," the Ranking Member wrote to Chairman Warsh.

"The Fed's ability to make decisions on interest rates independent of the White House depends on the reliability of the data it uses to set policy. The Fed has a responsibility to ensure its data sources are reliable and to explain to the public what safeguards, if any, it has in place to verify the integrity of its data sources, including the BEA and Census," the Ranking Member continued.

Ranking Member Warren requested written responses explaining these troubling developments by October 7, 2026.

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