{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-warren-air-concerns-with-bls-nominee", "Whitehouse, Warren Air Concerns with BLS Nominee", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.14.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse, Warren Air Concerns with BLS Nominee \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \u2018The Commissioner must safeguard the Bureau\u2019s integrity.  Dr. Beach\u2019s thin qualifications and slanted record do not suggest he will.\u2019\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) issued a statement today calling into question the qualifications of Dr. William Beach, Vice President for Policy Research at the Koch brothers-funded Mercatus Center and formerly of the Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.\u00a0 Beach was voted out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Wednesday evening on a party-line vote.\u00a0 The Senators said:\r\n\u201cWilliam Beach does not have the qualifications to serve as Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.\u00a0 His dissertation, provided to the Committee just two days before his markup, lacks the methodological rigor of a Ph.D. in economics, let alone one of the federal government\u2019s most important economists.\u00a0 It appears that little, if any, of his work has undergone the scrutiny of the scientific peer review process that would be expected of a leader in his field.\u00a0 And he has failed to provide the Committee with a single paper he has authored that was published in an independent academic journal.\r\n\u201cInstead of demonstrating independence and leadership, Dr. Beach built his career writing result-oriented policy papers for organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Mercatus Center, which receive significant funding from the Koch brothers and other anonymous sources.\u00a0 Especially during this administration, the Commissioner must safeguard the Bureau\u2019s integrity.\u00a0 Dr. Beach\u2019s thin qualifications and slanted record do not suggest he will.\u201d\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-warren-air-concerns-with-bls-nominee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.55715923756361, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}