Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) sent another letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Julie Su regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) jobs data release issues including its historic revisions to jobs data released in August.
 
The letter comes after DOL and BLS thought it was acceptable to provide information to external parties regarding this incident while depriving Congress of the information the Committee specifically requested multiple times. 
 
In the letter, Foxx and Good write: “DOL’s failure to respond to the basic requests and questions in the Committee’s first request was reprehensible, given that BLS quickly released emails related to this incident to a news agency in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. … On December 4, DOL provided a narrative response to the Committee’s September and October letters but did not provide any of the specific documents and communications that had been requested. … A narrative response is not an adequate substitute. Moreover, it is perplexing that DOL would provide information to a news organization via a FOIA request and then withhold that same information from the Committee.” 
 
The letter continues: “Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris DOL has made willful deficiency the norm when the Committee conducts oversight. Time and time again, DOL has obfuscated, failing to address the Committee’s direct questions. Instead, DOL has played games with the Committee, dancing around issues, providing incomplete responses, and treating the Committee’s requests as an a la carte menu—picking and choosing what Biden-Harris DOL appointees will respond to. Repeated attempts to dodge questions and requests invite further skepticism from the Committee. In several instances, the Committee has had to resort to compulsory measures to gain access to the most basic information.”
 
The letter concludes: “The general attitude of DOL toward the Committee’s inquiries suggests a lack of respect for Congress and the people the legislative branch represents. This aversion to accountability undermines public trust and confidence in DOL. The Committee insists on the inclusion of the materials it requested in the September 25 and October 9 letters, and all documents shared with the outside parties used to write the report discussed during the December 10 call.”
 
To read the full letter, click here.
 
Background

• In March, news reports revealed a BLS economist shared nonpublic information with several Wall Street firms. 
• On May 15, BLS accidentally loaded data files to its website 30 minutes prior to the scheduled release time of the consumer price index.
• On August 21, while the public waited for the release of the job numbers, some Wall Street firms got a head start as BLS released the numbers to firms that spoke to the agency by phone, potentially giving them an unfair advantage.
• On August 26, Chairwoman Foxx and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) called out the Biden-Harris administration for exaggerating job growth when revised BLS numbers proved an overestimate of more than 800,000 jobs.
• On September 25, to hold BLS accountable for its inability to ensure data is released uniformly and on time, Foxx and Good demanded answers from the Biden-Harris administration.
• On October 25, after BLS ignored the congressional request and additional disturbing reports surfaced in the press about BLS actions the day of the job umbers release on August 21, the Committee reupped its oversight inquiry and sent a follow-up letter to BLS.
• On December 4, DOL’s response to the Committee’s September and October letters failed to include any of the specific documents and communications that had been requested despite already providing this material to Bloomberg.
• On December 10, after BLS held a briefing on short notice, the Committee was told that BLS provided significant information regarding the Committee’s requests to private individuals, including the left leaning Urban Institute.