His nomination comes shortly after Trump fired former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee who published an unfavorable job report. He included an implicit slight against McEntarfer in his announcement on Truth Social.
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” the president said. “I know E.J. Antoni will do an incredible job in this new role. Congratulations E.J.!”
The BLS’s July jobs report revealed that some 258,000 fewer jobs were added in May and June than previously reported, meaning the three-month moving average of job gains was just 35,000 in July, below the level needed to keep pace with population growth. Trump claimed the numbers were “rigged” and accused McEntarfer of inflating the job numbers of former President Joe Biden before the November election.
Trump’s move drew widespread criticism, but Antoni was a vocal defender. Speaking with the Washington Examiner on Aug. 5, he said he was only surprised that such a move had taken so long.
“Just the timing is very unfortunate because it makes it look like you’re just firing the person because you weren’t happy with the numbers as opposed to firing for incompetence, which I think has been the case for a couple of years now,” Antoni said.
Though he disagreed with Trump’s allegation of “shenanigans,” Antoni said he did believe previous job reports were faulty due to “general incompetence.” Antoni pointed to the low survey response as illustrating McEntarfer’s poor performance in the role.
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He provided some hints about how he’ll run the BLS if he passes confirmation, but he said he didn’t like how the agency still carries out phone surveys.
Antoni was previously critical of the BLS and contributed to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
