President Donald Trump on Monday nominated economist E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The move comes just 10 days after ousting the agency’s former commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, over a weak jobs report he claimed, without evidence, was politically manipulated.
“Our economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social announcing his choice.
Antoni, who contributed to the controversial “Project 2025” plan to overhaul the federal government, has been a sharp critic of the Labor Department’s statistical agency. In a 2024 New York Post opinion piece, he accused the Biden-Harris administration of operating “in the land of make-believe” after the BLS issued a significant downward revision to employment figures for April 2023 through March 2024.
Reaction and Concerns Over Independence
Antoni’s nomination drew mixed reactions from economists and policy analysts.
“The nominee will result in a surge in demand for private label data,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US.
Alex Jacquez, head of policy and advocacy at the Groundwork Collaborative, called Antoni a “sycophant,” saying the pick was “a clear assault on independent analysis that will have far-reaching implications for the reliability of U.S. economic data.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Antoni would inherit an agency under heightened scrutiny amid concerns about declining data quality and falling survey response rates.
McEntarfer’s Removal and Unfounded Allegations
McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, was fired on Aug. 1 just hours after the BLS reported weaker-than-expected July job growth and issued historically large downward revisions to May and June’s employment figures.
In announcing her dismissal, Trump accused her, without providing evidence, of manipulating the data for political purposes. He vowed to appoint “someone much more competent and qualified.”
Challenges Facing the BLS
The BLS plays a critical role in producing key indicators such as the monthly nonfarm payrolls report, which measures job creation, unemployment, wage growth, and work hours, and is widely used by policymakers, investors, and economists. These figures are revised twice after their initial release and undergo an annual benchmark update.
The agency also compiles the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI), which track inflation and influence decisions by the Federal Reserve, as well as Social Security cost-of-living adjustments.
Years of underfunding under both Republican and Democratic administrations, compounded by the Trump White House’s deep spending cuts and mass layoffs of federal workers, have forced the BLS to suspend some data collection for CPI components in parts of the country. As a result, the share of imputed (estimated) prices in CPI calculations has tripled this year to 35%.
“I can’t help but worry some deadlines are going to be missed and undetected biases or other errors are going to start creeping into some of these reports just because of the reduction in staff,” said Erica Groshen, who served as BLS commissioner from 2013 to 2017.
Skepticism Over Preparedness
While Antoni holds a doctorate in economics and has taught courses in labor economics, money, and banking, some experts questioned whether he understands the BLS’s complex methodologies.
“He does have the necessary economic credentials, but that doesn’t mean he understands how BLS puts together the data and how revisions are made on a monthly basis,” said Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University. “Some of the data that will be forthcoming will not be to President Trump’s liking. It will be interesting how he would explain that and how the president would react to that.”
Antoni’s nomination now moves to the Senate for consideration.
