{"slug":"bls-commissioner-firing-jobs-data","title":"Firing the BLS Commissioner Over a Weak Jobs Report","date":"2025-08-01","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On August 1, 2025, hours after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employers added only 73,000 jobs in July and revised May and June down by 258,000, President Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. He claimed without evidence that the numbers were 'RIGGED' to 'make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' It was the first time a president had fired the head of the statistical agency. Economists across the political spectrum rejected the accusation. A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper found that measures of economic policy uncertainty 'rose sharply' after the firing.","summary":"Trump fired the head of the federal agency that produces the jobs and inflation numbers on the day it published bad news for him, accusing her without evidence of rigging the data. The commissioner had no statutory protection from removal, but removing a chief statistician for unwelcome numbers attacks the independence of official statistics.","category":"federal-dismantlement","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3xrrzdr0o","title":"Trump fires lead official on economic data as tariffs cause market drop","publisher":"BBC News"},{"url":"https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/sep/17/labor-statistics-chief-trump-erika-mcentarfer","title":"Labor statistics chief fired by Trump sounds alarm over White House's 'dangerous' interference","publisher":"The Guardian"},{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2025/08/04/nx-s1-5490075/a-former-bureau-of-labor-statistics-commissioner-on-the-firing-of-bls-head","title":"A former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner on the firing of BLS head","publisher":"NPR"},{"url":"https://www.nber.org/papers/w35135","title":"The Value of Reliable Statistics (NBER Working Paper 35135)","publisher":"National Bureau of Economic Research"},{"url":"https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/30/politics/ej-antoni-nomination-withdrawn-bls","title":"White House withdraws Trump's controversial nominee to lead BLS after ousting predecessor over jobs data","publisher":"CNN"},{"url":"https://unstats.un.org/fpos/","title":"Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (A/RES/68/261)","publisher":"UN Statistics Division"},{"url":"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/3","title":"29 U.S. Code § 3 - Commissioner; appointment and tenure of office; compensation","publisher":"Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Bureau of Labor Statistics","Erika McEntarfer","official statistics","jobs report","retaliatory firing","E.J. Antoni","independent agencies"],"relatedEntries":["doge-federal-workforce-mass-firings"],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-08-01","title":"Weak jobs report; commissioner fired the same day","summary":"BLS reports 73,000 jobs added in July and a 258,000 downward revision for May and June. Hours later, Trump announces he has fired Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of rigging the numbers. Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski becomes acting commissioner (BBC)."},{"date":"2025-08-04","title":"Former commissioner rebuts the accusation","summary":"Former BLS Commissioner Erica Groshen tells NPR the firing is 'without any modern precedence,' and NPR notes the President gave 'zero evidence' for his claim."},{"date":"2025-09-17","title":"McEntarfer speaks publicly","summary":"In her first public remarks since the firing, reported on September 17, at Bard College McEntarfer vouches for 'the accuracy and independence of the work of the agency up until the moment I was fired' and warns that 'firing your chief statisticians for releasing data you do not like has serious economic consequences' (The Guardian)."},{"date":"2025-09-30","title":"Antoni nomination withdrawn","summary":"The White House withdraws the nomination of E.J. Antoni as BLS commissioner and says another nominee will be announced (CNN)."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"second-term","posture":"executive-action","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (UN General Assembly resolution 68/261, 2014)","provision":"Non-binding. Official statistics are to be compiled according to professional considerations and made available impartially; statistical agencies are to be protected from political interference."}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Erika McEntarfer, removed from office; the independence and credibility of the US federal statistical system, on which public and private economic decisions depend","perpetrators":"President Donald Trump","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Ordered the firing and publicly accused the commissioner of rigging data","institution":"White House"}],"keyPoints":["On August 1, 2025, BLS reported 73,000 jobs added in July, against forecasts of 109,000, and revised May and June employment growth down by 258,000 (The Guardian; BBC). BBC reported it was the largest downward revision outside the Covid era since 1979.","Hours later, Trump announced the firing on social media, claiming that McEntarfer had 'RIGGED' jobs figures 'to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' He told reporters: 'I believe the numbers were phony … so you know what I did? I fired her' (BBC).","The Guardian reported it was the first time a president had fired the head of the bureau. McEntarfer had been confirmed near-unanimously in 2023, including with a vote from then-Senator JD Vance (BBC).","Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute said McEntarfer had conducted herself with 'great integrity' and that 'by casting doubt on that, the President is damaging the United States.' Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called it 'what happens in authoritarian countries, not democratic ones' (BBC).","An NBER working paper found that 'measures of economic policy uncertainty rose sharply' after the firing, 'consistent with the idea that reduced trust in official data increases uncertainty for investors, businesses, and households.'","Trump nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, a vocal BLS critic. The White House withdrew the nomination on September 30, 2025, after CNN's KFile reported on a since-deleted Twitter account he had operated (CNN)."],"legalBasis":"29 U.S.C. § 3 (Commissioner of Labor Statistics holds office for four years 'unless sooner removed'); UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (non-binding)","postureNote":"The firing was an executive action that has not been challenged in court in the sources fetched. The statute gives the commissioner a four-year term but no protection against removal, so the firing itself was within the President's power. What is at issue is the stated reason: removal for publishing accurate but unwelcome data, accompanied by an unsupported accusation of fraud. Who leads BLS as of October 2026 was not established in this review.","relatedIncidents":["doge-federal-workforce-mass-firings"]}}