Up until two weeks ago, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics was a relatively obscure federal office, which most Americans had probably never heard of. Indeed, for the last 140 years, the office has been led by technocratic and apolitical experts, none of whom has been especially controversial.
That’s changed in a hurry.
Twelve days ago, poor job numbers forced Donald Trump to confront evidence of his own failures. Presented with data showing job growth in the United States slowing to a 16-year low, the president fired Erica McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics without cause. He proceeded to tell Americans that his own administration’s job numbers should be seen as “rigged,” “ridiculous,” “phony” and a “scam” — baseless claims that the Republican appeared to make up to justify his own outlandish and authoritarian-style decision.
But that’s not all he did. The president also vowed to nominate an even better BLS chief, and on Monday afternoon, the public learned of his choice: E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that used to have a reputation as a prominent think tank. NBC News reported:
Steve Bannon, a senior adviser to Trump in his first term, had been pushing hard for Antoni’s nomination. Antoni, a contributor to the Project 2025 policy rubric, has been a longtime skeptic of BLS data. On Bannon’s podcast last week, Antoni called for McEntarfer to be fired shortly before Trump pulled the trigger. As chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, Antoni has written a number of pieces for the think tank that are highly complimentary of the Trump administration.
When the president made the announcement by way of his social media platform, his online message was more interesting than he probably intended. “Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump wrote.
In other words, Trump has already decided that the economy is in great shape, reality notwithstanding, and he’s confident that his handpicked loyalist will produce statistics that meet the White House’s standards for “accuracy.”
In the same missive, the Republican described Antoni as a “Highly Respected Economist.” There’s ample evidence to the contrary.
Jason Furman, for example, is an accomplished Harvard economist who chaired the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration, and he responded to Antoni’s nomination this way: “I don’t think I have ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee before. But E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner. He is an extreme partisan and does not have any relevant expertise.”
Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, added, “Let’s focus on qualifications: Antoni finished grad school 5 years ago at Northern Illinois with no distinction. Dissertation: No focus on labor or data collection. Zero publications. One lifetime citation (by a former colleague). This record would not earn you a job as junior economist at BLS.”
Trump, however, nominated Antoni to lead the BLS. As for why you should care about this, let’s not forget that much of the world has come to rely on the BLS for objective and apolitical data. That trust has been established over generations — and Trump has set it on fire. Going forward, everyone — from policymakers to economists, Federal Reserve officials to investors, business owners to regular ol’ American workers — will now have reason to question the integrity of the data from the U.S. government. Antoni’s nomination will need to be confirmed by a majority of the Republican-led Senate, which has tended to act like a rubber stamp for White House nominees. Watch this space. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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