Trump Appoints Heritage Foundation Economist to Lead Labor Statistics | The Trump Government

Donald Trump has announced his decision to nominate EJ Antoni, the chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to Trump, he made this nomination because he wants to ensure that the numbers released by the agency are honest and accurate. This comes after Trump fired the previous commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, following a jobs report he claimed without evidence was “rigged.” Antoni, a longtime critic of the agency, has voiced concerns about the revisions made to the jobs data collected by the BLS. He stated that the next BLS commissioner must improve data collection, processing, and dissemination in order to rebuild trust in the agency. The Senate must confirm his nomination to lead the BLS, which is an independent agency under the labor department. The Wall Street Journal reported that Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser and right-wing provocateur, advocated for Antoni’s nomination. Labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer stated that Antoni would provide the American people with fair and accurate economic data they can rely on. The firing of McEntarfer alarmed many economists, statisticians, and senior Republican lawmakers who were concerned that it would undermine the credibility of the agency’s economic data.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/11/trump-ej-antoni-heritage-foundation-bls