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FY26 Statistical Agency Budget Developments

  

The Trump Administration is expected to release its FY26 budget request in late May or early June. I will be filling in information as I become aware of it. This blog entry will track FY26 appropriations developments for the federal statistical agencies and so will be updated accordingly. (See update log below.) 

See also, FY26 NIH, NSF, and AHRQ Budget Developments and federal statistical agency budgets back to fiscal year 2003 (FY03)

FY26

     Agency   FY20  FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY255  Request   % change vs FY25  House   Senate   Final  %
BEA 105.8 108.4 111.7 121.9 118 117 111 -5% 110.511
BJS 43 45 40 42 35 35 33 -6% 33
BLS 6282 6422 659.52 697.95 697.95  703.95 647.95 9 -8%
BTS1 26 26 29 26.25 26.5 26.75 27 0.9%  
Census 7558 1107 1354 1485 1382.5  1382.5 1676.5 21% 1676.5
  -Current Surveys 329 329 288.5 -12.3% 288.5
  -Periodic 1054 1054 1388 31.7% 1388
EIA 126.8 126.8 129.1 135 135 135 135 0 135
ERS 84.8 85.5 87.8 92.6 90.6 90.6 80 -12% 85.6
NASS 180.3 183.9 190.2 211 187.85 187.85 185 -1.3% 180
 -Census of Ag 46.3 46.9 66.4 46.85 46.85 46 46
NCES3 263.5 276.5 291.5 306.5 306.5 306.5 130

-58%

 -stats 110.5 111.5 111.5 121.5 121.5 121.5 010 -100%
 -assess 185 185 185 130 -30%
NCSES 65.0 66.69 67.7 90.8 448
NCHS4 174.4 175.4 180.4 187.4 187.4  187.4 1756 -6.6%
ORES 36.0 35.7  39.7 40.0 29.0 30.2
SOI 35.9 40.0 42.4 41.7

 Levels in millions of dollars; Agency abbreviations listed below; NCES is for Statistics and Assessment (not NAGB or SLDS)
Latest Action: *Subcommittee mark-up; **Committee mark-up; ***Passed the Floor
&Not available because of lack of sufficient detail in summary, bill or conference report; 
NATD (or blank): No Action To Date
1The BTS is funded through the Highway Trust Fund with levels determined by the authorizing committees. Congress is currently working on a transportation bill.
2The FY20, FY21, FY22 request, FY22 "Final", and FY23 Request levels for BLS includes $27 million, $13 M, $28.47M, $28.470M, and $15.4 M respectively, for its relocation. The relocation funds are are not reflected in the table to make the levels comparable with the FY19 and prior year funding levels.
3The NCES budget level includes both statistics and assessment. The levels do not include budget for National Assessment Governing Board. 
4The NCHS budget went through budget realignment in FY21. The prior year budgets have been adjusted to make them comparable.
5
The FY25 levels are estimates based on the continuing resolution for FY25.
6The FY26 request also proposes to move the NCHS from CDC to the to-be-created Office of Strategy. It also indicates NCHS funds will come from the Public Health
Service Evaluation.
7The BEA budget is combined with the DOC Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, for which we assume the estimate is $7 million.
8This level does not include NCSES staffing and so is not comparable with prior year levels. The comparable FY23 level is $78 million. 
9The President's Budget proposes to reorganize the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Census Bureau at the Department of Commerce.
10The ED FY26 budget summary reads as follows: "The Administration is currently in the midst of reimagining a more efficient, effective, and useful IES that can meet statutory requirements under the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) in fiscal year 2026 and improve support for evidence-based accountability, data-driven decision making, and education research for use in the classroom. *For fiscal year 2026, the Administration requests $124 million, shown on an undistributed line under the IES account, in addition to specific funding for the Assessment and the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) lines, to enable IES to meet statutory requirements, continue critical data collections and studies, and fund administrative expenses in the short-term."
11The House CJS bill lists only the combined budget for BEA and the Office of the Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, which is $116 million, which is $1 million less than the FY26 request for that line. $110.5 assumes the half million dollar cut is split evening between the two lines. 

Updates (and sources):

    Agency specific request

    • BLS: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/budget/2026/FY2026BIB.pdf. "The BLS request is included in the Department's budget materials, but the Budget proposes to reorganize the BLS, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Department of Commerce, under the policy direction of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs. This reorganization proposal aims to leverage data collection and analysis synergies, increase cost effectiveness, improve data quality, and reduce respondent burden. Within the funding level, to achieve cost savings beyond those enabled by the reorganization proposal, and prioritize the most mission critical activities necessary for the production of the core data series, BLS will refocus efforts on producing data from statistical programs that are Principal Federal Economic Indicators (PFEIs), required by statute, or in use in current law."
    • BTS https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2025-05/OST_FY_2026_Budget_Estimates_CJ.pdf
    • EIA (in brief): https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/doe-fy-2026-bib-v4.pdf FY 2026 funding will enable EIA to initiate the next Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), a complex, multi-year survey that provides the only comprehensive, statistically reliable source of information on energy consumption, expenditures, and end uses in U.S. commercial buildings. Funding will also enable EIA to continue to advance its modeling systems to better represent future energy pathways and issues, improve energy demand modeling capabilities, and explore the best approach to model and forecast the use of critical minerals in energy technologies.
    • ERS: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/18-2026-CJ-ERS.pdf  Proposals for ERS budget priorities include research that: (1) builds on unique or
      confidential data sources or investments at the Federal level; (2) provides coordination for a national perspective or framework; (3) requires sustained investment and expert teams; (4) directly serves the U.S. Government’s or USDA’s long-term national goals; and (5) addresses questions with shortrun payoff or that have immediate policy implications. ERS also seeks to cover the breadth of USDA programs (except forestry) and requests funding to ensure sustained expertise and to support the
      department through analysis of farming, commodity markets and trade, conservation, productivity growth, rural prosperity, food safety, food markets, and nutrition. ERS’ strength in data linking, and in developing, modeling, and monitoring outcome measures, including program performance and agricultural productivity growth, will contribute substantively to advance USDA’s priority goals.
      • In pursuit of streamlining workforce efforts, facilities, and other government efficiencies, the Economic Research Service has reduced staff from 329 to 244. The agency will reduce or sunset research on lower priority items, including research that does not directly benefit the taxpayer, like international food assistance, developing country markets, international productivity, and food loss and waste monitoring and research. ERS will not initiate new climate research. Communication activities, such as reports, charts, webinars, and data products will be streamlined to minimize information overload and promote only the most
        important findings. ERS will also use funding for any staff relocation actions that may be required. 
      • In pursuit of streamlining workforce efforts, facilities, and other government efficiencies, ERS will reduce staff working on white papers for Congressionally Directed reports, while continuing to meet statutory deadlines. ERS is regularly required to conduct reports at the request of Congress or other external stakeholders to meet urgent needs. Being timely, relevant, and data driven is a core value of ERS’ mission and ERS will work diligently to continue meeting its deadlines and providing accurate data with fewer resources. The following are examples of reports requested; Rural Tract Codes (Senate and Explanatory Notes); Nutrition Security Metrics (Senate and Explanatory Notes); Agritourism (House Report 117-392); Continuous Living Cover (House Report 117-82); Carbon Sequestration (House Report 117-82) and Incentives for Voluntary Carbon Sequestration (Senate Report 117-34); and Land Access Report (House Report 117-82).
      • In pursuit of streamlining workforce efforts, facilities, and other government efficiencies, ERS will reduce the acquisition of primary data on food markets and choices, as well as the prices American consumers pay for food. ERS has a robust Consumer Food Data System that provides a comprehensive, integrated set of data that delivers relevant, accurate, and credible evidence to inform USDA, Congress, and the public about the food sector, from farmgate to fork, about key national issues such as diet quality, food security, food prices and more. However, ERS is able to produce a robust set of data products, statistics, analysis, and reports using a combination of survey data, proprietary data, and data acquired through interagency agreements on these topics. To limit spending taxpayer dollars on duplicative activities, ERS will reduce its investment in the CFDS by $2,000,000 and promote its use of interagency agreements to acquire data related to food markets and prices. 
    • NASS:  https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/19-2026-CJ-NASS.pdf
      • A decrease of $2,000,000 to eliminate the Farm Labor Report informed by the Agricultural Labor Survey (ALS) program. NASS conducts the ALS semi-annually and the Department of Labor (DOL) uses data from the report as an input in the calculation of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), the prevailing rate used in the administration of the H-2A program. Agricultural producers have expressed concerns with the Farm Labor Survey not capturing accurate and reflective wage rates. Funding previously allocated to this report will now be redirected towards high-priority projects that are better aligned with the interests and support requirements of farmers and ranchers and the Administration.
      • A decrease of $850,000 to streamline the workforce which will increase the efficiency of CoA. NASS is utilizing existing modeling to improve our estimates, which allows NASS to both leverage and automate the flow of data from a wide variety of sources, including administrative, geospatial, and economic data to improve the timeliness and quality of planted acreage estimates.
    • NCES: Repeating footnote 10 above: The ED FY26 budget summary reads as follows: "The Administration is currently in the midst of reimagining a more efficient, effective, and useful IES that can meet statutory requirements under the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) in fiscal year 2026 and improve support for evidence-based accountability, data-driven decision making, and education research for use in the classroom. *For fiscal year 2026, the Administration requests $124 million, shown on an undistributed line under the IES account, in addition to specific funding for the Assessment and the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) lines, to enable IES to meet statutory requirements, continue critical data collections and studies, and fund administrative expenses in the short-term."
    • NCSES: https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF-FY26-CJ-Entire-Rollup.pdf The $44 million for NCSES's program budget (i.e., doesn't include staffing) is a deep cut to NCSES. It has a long list of activities the amount is intended to support, including NSDS demonstration project, SAP, and some new efforts so it's not immediately clear to me what is being cut.
    •  

    See also: 

    Statistical Agency abbreviations

     BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis
    BJS Bureau of Justice Statistics
    BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics
    BTS Bureau of Transportation Statistics 
    ERS Economic Research Service
    EIA Energy Information Administration
    NASS National Agricultural Statistics Service
    NCES National Center for Education Statistics 
    NCHS National Center for Health Statistics
    NCSES National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF
    ORES Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, SSA
    SOI Statistics of Income Division, IRS
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