President Trump has nominated E.J. Antoni, an economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This move comes just days after Trump fired the previous commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, following a disappointing July jobs report.
The BLS reported only 73,000 jobs added in July, far below expectations. More concerning for the administration were significant downward revisions to previous months – May and June job numbers were revised down by a combined 258,000 positions.
Trump announced Antoni’s nomination on his social media platform, Truth Social, stating: “Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE.” The president has claimed, without evidence, that McEntarfer had “rigged” federal hiring data to harm him politically.
Antoni’s background differs significantly from typical BLS commissioners. He previously worked at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and is a contributor to Project 2025. He regularly appears on conservative media outlets and writes opinion columns for the Daily Caller.
The BLS commissioner position has traditionally been held by non-partisan statisticians and economists whose terms often span multiple administrations. McEntarfer, who was fired by Trump, had been a career civil servant with years of experience in federal statistical agencies before being confirmed with bipartisan Senate support in 2024.
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Antoni has been openly critical of the BLS for years. Just hours before McEntarfer’s firing, he appeared on former White House strategist Steve Bannon’s podcast, calling her “incompetent” for failing to address what he sees as data collection problems at the bureau.
“Under the Biden administration… we routinely got a great number – a blockbuster number – initially, and then in the subsequent months that number would be revised down,” Antoni said in July on a Texas Public Policy Foundation podcast.
William Beach, a former BLS commissioner, has strongly criticized McEntarfer’s firing, calling it “damaging” and saying it undermines the agency’s credibility. The BLS is responsible for producing crucial economic data including monthly jobs reports and inflation figures that influence business decisions, investor confidence, and government policy.
Some economists have expressed alarm about Antoni’s nomination. Jason Furman posted on social media that “E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner. He is an extreme partisan and does not have any relevant expertise.”
The BLS has faced genuine challenges in data collection since the pandemic. Survey response rates have fallen from 60% in January 2020 to less than 43% in April 2025. Antoni has criticized these collection methods and suggested changes are needed.
If confirmed by the Senate, Antoni would oversee an agency that provides critical economic indicators used by businesses, investors, and policymakers. The confirmation process is expected to be contentious given Antoni’s partisan background and Trump’s controversial firing of McEntarfer.
The next monthly report on consumer prices is scheduled for release tomorrow, which may show increased inflation partly due to the president’s expanding trade policies.
This nomination represents another example of Trump appointing loyalists to typically non-partisan agencies, raising questions about the future independence and credibility of government economic data.
