U.S. Chief Statistician Role Changes Hands Again

The United States has quietly ushered in a new Chief Statistician, Stuart Levenbach, replacing Mark Calabria in the position at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) after just six months.

The Chief Statistician is charged with providing coordination, guidance and oversight for U.S. federal statistical agencies and activities; and heads up the Statistical Policy Branch of the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

According to the Census Bureau, there has been no formal announcement about the latest appointment. Levenbach was nominated by President Trump in November to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a position he did not take up, but he continues to serve as the OMB's Associate Director for natural resources, energy, science and water. He now chairs the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, a role always held by the Chief Statistician.

Levenbach is the third person to serve in the role under the current administration, Karin Orvis having started in it in 2022. She was replaced by Calabria in July, and now leads the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' stats and science policy - according to www.fedscoop.com . The rapid recent succession is the more remarkable less than a decade after the retirement of Katherine Wallman, who served as Chief Statistician for a full quarter century from 1992.

A marine ecologist with a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Levenbach previously served in various public and private sector roles, including in Trump's first term, and spent a decade working for the OMB as program examiner in its Resource Management Office Commerce Branch; and as a senior policy analyst in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' Natural Resources and Environment Branch. During the Biden administration he led government affairs at the energy technology company Baker Hughes, while running his own consultancy.

Web site: www.whitehouse.gov/omb .