Scores of government statisticians are gone, leaving data at risk, report says

Source: AP

Updated 5:12 PM EST, December 10, 2025


The ranks of U.S. government statisticians have been gutted in the past year due to layoffs and buyouts. That along with diminished funding and attacks on their independence have put at risk the data used to make informed decisions about everything from the nation’s economy to its demographics, according to a new report from outside experts released Wednesday.

One agency lost 95% of its staff, while others dropped by about quarter to more than a third, due to government downsizing this year during President Donald Trump’s first months in office, according to the report released by the American Statistical Association. Besides veteran employees with deep institutional knowledge, some of the cuts hit new hires meant to infuse new blood into the agencies, said the annual report.

“Things are getting a lot worse,” Nancy Potok, a former U.S. chief statistician during the first Trump administration who was on the team that produced the report, said Wednesday. “It’s kind of dropping off the cliff there and in a really dire situation.”

The administration’s Office of Management and Budget, home to the U.S. chief statistician who coordinates the system of gathering data, didn’t respond Wednesday morning to an e-mailed inquiry about the report.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/census-bureau-statistical-agencies-data-government-803993ba9d2ab70c2395d2d4bcde3ddd