In a second administration that has had no shortage of shocking moments, the display President Donald Trump put on in the White House last Friday was especially concerning for economists.
The president fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following the release of a July jobs report that featured historically large revisions for May and June.
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The former host of “The Apprentice” didn’t just fire McEntarfer; he made a show of the reasons for the decision.
To justify the move, President Trump brought out charts, but no evidence, suggesting President Joe Biden’s administration overestimated job creation by 1.5 million jobs during his term.
However, as controversial as the move to fire McEntarfer was, the president’s nominee to replace her has created an even bigger firestorm.
Even Republicans and right-leaning economists are questioning the White House’s decision to nominate E.J. Antoni as commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Economists call BLS Commissioner nominee’s competence into question
E.J. Antoni is a chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, but colleagues at fellow conservative think tanks think President Trump is making a mistake.
Antoni’s “work at Heritage has frequently included elementary errors or nonsensical choices that all bias his findings in the same partisan direction,” Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told Axios.
Meanwhile, the White House is backing the pick, saying that the move is key to restoring the public’s trust in the agency that tracks the country’s economic data.
“Antoni’s education and vast experience as an economist have prepared him to produce accurate public data for businesses, households, and policymakers to inform their decision-making,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, told Axios.
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However, his colleagues specifically call out the accuracy of his work.
“I’ve never met E.J. Antoni because he is not seen in many D.C. policy circles. However, the articles and tweets I’ve seen him publish are probably the most error-filled of any think tank economist right now. I hope we see better at BLS,” said Jessica Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
On Aug. 11, Daniel Di Martino, another Manhattan Institute fellow, called out on X (the former Twitter) what he believes is a specific instance of Antoni’s malfeasance.
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“This is one of the many elementary errors that show me Mr. Antoni is unqualified for the labor market data collection and analysis role he was nominated to,” DiMartino wrote.
DiMartino was referring to E.J. Antoni’s Sept. 2024 post on X, where Antoni stated: “The number of people categorized as not in the labor force is over 5 million more than pre-pandemic, and even higher above the pre-pandemic trend; this is artificially reducing the unemployment rate.”
At the time, DiMartino had replied to Antoni’s post: “Did you really fit a line thinking the number of people not in the labor force was on track for falling? In an aging country?”
American Institute for Economic Research Senior Research Fellow Dave Herbert has also worked with Antoni and wasn’t impressed with what he saw.
“[He is] nominated to head up the BLS. I’ve been on several programs with him and have been impressed by two things: his inability to understand basic economics and the speed with which he’s gone MAGA. I can only hope the Senate blocks this,” Herbert said.
E.J. Antoni confirmation process for BLS Commissioner: next steps
The White House has already said it will pause the monthly jobs report while it readjusts the the methodology to Antoni’s liking.
But in the meantime, Antoni still needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is under the auspices of the commissioner, who is appointed by the president and confirmed by a full Senate vote for a four-year term.
McEntarfer was confirmed by a broad bipartisan vote of 86 “yes” votes to 8 “no”s in January 2024. Current Vice President JD Vance cast a vote in her favor.
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