The Chief Statistician of the United States is a position in the U.S. federal government's
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, poli ...
(OMB). The Chief Statistician is charged with providing coordination, guidance, and oversight for
U.S. federal statistical agencies and activities.
The Chief Statistician heads the Statistical Policy Branch of the OMB's
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA ) is a Division within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which in turn, is within the Executive Office of the President. OIRA oversees the implementation of government-wide polici ...
(OIRA). The Chief Statistician is appointed by the Administrator of the OIRA.
[
Katherine Wallman was the Chief Statistician from 1992 to January 2017.]
History
The current position of Chief Statistician was created by the Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812, codified at ) is a United States federal law enacted in 1980 designed to reduce the total amount of paperwork burden the federal government imposes on private businesses and c ...
in 1980.[* United States ]General Accounting Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
(GAO)
Statistical Agencies Adherence to Guidelines and Coordination of Budgets
GAO/GGD-95-65. August 1995. pp 44–45.
An earlier U.S. chief statistician, Stuart Rice, chaired the nuclear session of the United Nations Statistical Commission
The United Nations Statistical Commission (StatCom) is a Functional Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, established in 1947. The Statistical Commission oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). I ...
in 1946.
List of chief statisticians
* Stuart Rice (1939-1955)
* Raymond Bowman (1955–1969)
* Julius Shiskin (1969-1973)
* Joseph W. Duncan (1974–1981)
* ''vacant (1981-1983)''
* Dorothy Tella (1983–1988)
* Herman Habermann (1988-1992)
* Katherine Wallman (1992-January 2017)
* Nancy Potok (January 2017 to December 2019)
* Dominic (Dom) Mancini (acting, December 2019-April 2022)
* Karin Orvis (April 2022-present)
References
{{reflist
United States Office of Management and Budget
Federal Statistical System of the United States