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About Us

The Federal Statistical System

Relevant, timely, credible, and objective statistical information is part of the foundation of democracy and the fundamental responsibility of the U.S. Federal statistical system. Since the Nation's founding, the U.S. Federal statistical system has collected and transformed data into high quality statistical information, making it readily available to inform all types of decision-making, while protecting the responses of individual data providers. Such decisions may include those made by Federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal policymakers; the private sector, including businesses; and individuals. Led by the U.S. Chief Statistician, OMB, and the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP), the U.S. Federal statistical system is a decentralized, interconnected network of 16 Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units, 24 Statistical Officials (across 24 major cabinet agencies), approximately 100 additional Federal statistical programs engaged in statistical activities, and several cross system interagency and advisory bodies.

The vision of the Federal statistical system is to operate as a seamless system, as stewards of much of the nation's most sensitive data, enabling greater evidence building, civic engagement, and public and private sector decision making.

This graphic depicts each of the entities as part of the decentralized, interconnected network that is the Federal statistical system.

Federal Statistical System

Office Chief Statistician

Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Chief Statistician

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), via the U.S. Chief Statistician, leads and coordinates the decentralized U.S. Federal statistical system, along with the ICSP. The U.S. Chief Statistician is assisted by statistical policy staff within OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The U.S. Chief Statistician and leaders of the statistical system are working together to provide strategic vision and robust implementation in support of the U.S. Federal statistical system's critical longstanding — and expanding — role for supporting evidence-based decision-making. The responsibilities of the U.S. Chief Statistician and OMB, derived from statutes — including the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act) — include:

  • Coordinating the activities of the U.S. Federal statistical system to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the system and the integrity, objectivity, impartiality, utility, and confidentiality of information collected for statistical purposes
  • Ensuring that agencies' budget proposals are consistent with U.S. Federal statistical system priorities
  • Developing and implementing United States government-wide statistical policies, principles, standards, guidelines, and regulations, including those required by the Evidence Act, to bolster trust in the U.S. Federal statistical system, enhance the ability of statistical agencies and units to acquire Federal data for statistical purposes, and promote the expansion of safe and secure access to protected statistical data
  • Evaluating statistical program performance and agency compliance with policies, principles, standards, guidelines, and regulations
  • Approving statistical agency information collections and regulations
  • Promoting the sharing of statistical information, consistent with privacy rights and confidentiality pledges
  • Coordinating United States participation in international statistical activities, including the development of comparable statistics, and also representing the United States as a member of the United Nations Statistical Commission, among other international bodies
  • Chairing the ICSP and working with other interagency councils to promote U.S. Federal statistical system priorities and to facilitate statistical functions and activities
  • Providing opportunities for training in statistical policy functions to employees of the Federal Government

ICSP

Interagency Council on Statistical Policy

Started in 1989, the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) was originally created to improve communication among the heads of the principal statistical agencies, and later was charged with advising and assisting the U.S. Chief Statistician and the Office of Management and Budget. The Evidence Act expanded membership to include the newly established Statistical Officials across major cabinet agencies, 11 of which are also heads of statistical agencies. The ICSP, led by the U.S. Chief Statistician, supports implementation of the statistical system's vision to operate as a seamless system, working together to provide strategic vision and robust implementation in support of the U.S. Federal statistical system's critical longstanding — and expanding — role for supporting evidence-based decision-making. For example, the ICSP sets strategic goals for modernizing the statistical system, as well as enhancing coordination and collaboration across the system, recognizing the efficiencies and advancements possible when taking advantage of the whole system's statistical infrastructure and expertise.

The ICSP also charters subcommittees, as well as sponsoring leadership, mentorship, and awards programs. Some examples include:

Fiscal Years 2025 & 2026 Strategic Goals and Objectives

Goals and Objectives Graphic

ICSP Members

In total, there are 30 unique members of the ICSP, including the U.S. Chief Statistician who serves as the Chair. Pursuant to the PRA and Evidence Act, the ICSP is comprised of the 24 designated Statistical Officials, as well as all heads of the OMB recognized statistical agencies and units.

Department of Energy logo

Tristan Abbey

Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration^*

Social Security Administration logo

Safaa Amer

Social Security Administration, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics*

National Aeronautics and Space Administration* logo

Chris Andall

National Aeronautics and Space Administration*

Department of Commerce logo

Vipin Arora

Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis^

Office of Personnel Management* logo

Perryn Ashmore

Office of Personnel Management*

Department of Agriculture logo

Andrea Beam

Department of Agriculture, National Animal Health Monitoring System^

Office of Management and Budget** logo

Mark Calabria

Office of Management and Budget**

Small Business Administration* logo

Anna Maria Calcagno

Small Business Administration*

Department of Housing and Urban Development* logo

George Carter
Lydia Taghavi

Department of Housing and Urban Development*

General Services Administration* logo

Todd Coleman

General Services Administration*

Department of Commerce logo

George Cook

Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census^*

Department of Health and Human Services logo

Christopher Jones

Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality^

Nuclear Regulatory Commission* logo

Doris Lewis

Nuclear Regulatory Commission*

Department of Agriculture logo

Kelly Maguire

Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service^

Environmental Protection Agency* logo

Alex Marten

Environmental Protection Agency*

Department of War* logo

Doug Matty

Department of War*

Department of Health and Human Services logo

Brian Moyer

Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics^*

Department of the Interior* logo

Kawa Ng

Department of the Interior*

Department of Agriculture logo

Joe Parsons

Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service^*

Department of State* logo

Gio Altamirano Rayo

Department of State*

National Science Foundation logo

Emilda Rivers

National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics^*

Department of Homeland Security* logo

Marc Rosenblum

Department of Homeland Security*

Department of Transportation logo

Rolf Schmitt

Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics^*

Department of Justice logo

Kevin Scott

Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics^*

Department of Education logo

Matthew Soldner

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics^*

Department of Veterans Affairs* logo

Eddie Thomas

Department of Veterans Affairs*

U.S. Agency for International Development logo

Vacant

U.S. Agency for International Development

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System logo

Alice Volz

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Microeconomic Surveys Unit^

Department of Labor logo

William Wiatrowski

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics^*

Department of the Treasury logo

Mark Xu

Department of the Treasury, Statistics of Income^*

** Chair

^ Recognized Statistical Agency or Unit Head

* Statistical Official

Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units

OMB recognizes 16 statistical agencies and units under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018 (CIPSEA 2018). Of these, thirteen are known as principal statistical agencies, which are agencies or organizational units of the Executive Branch whose missions are predominantly the collection, compilation, processing, or analysis of information for statistical purposes, covering such topics as the economy, workforce, energy, agriculture, foreign trade, education, housing, crime, transportation, and health. In addition, OMB recognizes three additional units: Microeconomic Surveys Unit (Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System); Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Department of Health and Human Services); and National Animal Health Monitoring System, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Department of Agriculture).