Washington — President Trump introduced E.J. Antoni as his nominee to guide the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Monday, after he fired the previous commissioner earlier this month, blaming her for a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
Antoni is a fellow on the conservative Heritage Basis suppose tank, and he holds a doctorate in economics from Northern Illinois College. He is defended Mr. Trump’s financial coverage strikes up to now, together with the president’s tariff technique. He has additionally criticized the BLS for low response charges and questioned the company’s methodology, calling its medical health insurance figures “phoney baloney” final 12 months and at one level joking that “the ‘L’ is silent” in BLS’ title.
“DOGE must take a chainsaw to the BLS…,” he wrote in a November X publish.
“There are higher methods to gather, course of, and disseminate knowledge—that’s the job for the subsequent BLS commissioner, and solely constant supply of correct knowledge in a well timed method will rebuild the belief that has been misplaced during the last a number of years,” he wrote shortly after Mr. Trump fired the previous BLS chief.
Mr. Trump nominated Antoni in a Fact Social publish, saying he “will be certain that the Numbers launched are HONEST and ACCURATE.”
Antoni will should be confirmed by the Senate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is presently led by appearing Commissioner William Watrowski, who has labored on the company for many years.
Mr. Trump ordered his administration to terminate Erika McEntarfer, who had been commissioner of labor statistics, on Aug. 1, hours after the discharge of the July jobs report knowledge. That report confirmed a pointy slowdown in hiring, together with a steep downward revision to Might and June’s hiring numbers.
Hours earlier than her firing, Antoni criticized BLS for “knowledge issues” and a pattern of “extremely problematic” revisions, although he additionally touted some figures within the July jobs report, together with a soar in employment by native-born Individuals and a slowdown in authorities jobs.
Within the wake of McEntarfer’s firing, influential ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon backed Antoni to take over the BLS. Antoni appeared on Bannon’s present “Warfare Room” on the day the roles report got here out, calling McEntarfer “incompetent.” Days later, Bannon mentioned “we’re pushing” for Antoni to guide the BLS, and referred to as him “the man that just about single-handedly took it down by going by means of their numbers.”
Asserting McEntarfer’s firing in a publish on Fact Social, the president claimed — with out proof — that she had “faked the Jobs Numbers earlier than the Election to try to increase Kamala’s possibilities of Victory” and pledged to interchange her “with somebody rather more competent and certified.”
However Harvard economics professor Jason Furman, a head of the Council of Financial Advisers beneath former President Barack Obama, was sharply essential of the choice of Antoni, saying on X that, “I do not suppose I’ve ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee earlier than. However E.J. Antoni is totally unqualified to be BLS Commissioner. He’s an excessive partisan and doesn’t have any related experience. He can be a break from a long time of nonpartisan technocrats.”
Jessica Riedl, an economist on the conservative Manhattan Institute, mentioned on X that she’s “by no means met EJ Antoni as a result of he’s not seen in lots of DC coverage circles. Nevertheless, the articles and tweets I’ve seen him publish are most likely essentially the most error-filled of any suppose tank economist proper now. I hope we see higher at BLS.”
The roles report for October 2024, which was launched on Nov. 1, 2024, 4 days earlier than Election Day, confirmed simply 12,000 jobs have been created — far in need of the 100,000 forecast for the month — following two hurricanes and a significant labor dispute. The next month, that determine was revised upward, to 36,000. September’s jobs report, nevertheless, dramatically exceeded forecasts — 254,000 jobs have been created, quite than the 140,000 financial analysts had anticipated. That determine was later revised right down to 223,000.
Mr. Trump continued railing towards the ousted commissioner and the BLS extra broadly within the days after he fired her, claiming in a publish on Fact Social final week that the July jobs report had been “RIGGED,” although he offered no proof to help it. The president mentioned on CNBC’s “Squawk Field” Tuesday that it is a “extremely political state of affairs.” And Nationwide Financial Council Director Kevin Hassett defended the president’s resolution in an look on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” citing a collection of revisions and patterns that “might make folks marvel.”
“What we’d like is a contemporary set of eyes over on the BLS,” Hassett mentioned, including that “the president needs his personal folks there in order that once we see the numbers they’re extra clear and extra dependable.”
McEntarfer had been commissioner for a bit of over a 12 months and a half, after she was confirmed in a broad bipartisan vote of 86 to eight by the Senate in January 2024.
The newest jobs report confirmed employers in July including a weaker-than-expected 73,000 jobs, with a downward revision of 258,000 fewer jobs created in Might and June. Mr. Trump, who usually touts the job numbers, referred to as the roles figures a “shock” and the revision a “main mistake.” The BLS mentioned in its report that month-to-month revisions “consequence from further experiences obtained from companies and authorities companies for the reason that final revealed estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal elements.”
U.S. Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer acknowledged in an interview for “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” earlier this month that “there are all the time revisions,” however he added that “typically you see these revisions go in actually excessive methods.”
“The president is the president. He can select who works within the govt department,” Greer mentioned.
In the meantime, some economists and lawmakers have expressed concern over the firing, and a gaggle of former BLS leaders warned that the transfer “undermines the precious work and dedication of BLS employees” and “escalates the President’s unprecedented assaults on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system.” The group referred to as on Congress to analyze the firing.
Aimee Picchi
contributed to this report.
