President Trump said he’s naming E.J. Antoni, an economist at a major conservative think tank, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The president recently fired BLS chief Erika McEntarfer over disappointing job numbers he called rigged, causing handwringing among economists who worried the White House would exert political pressure on a bureau known for processing sober statistics.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Antoni, who works at the Heritage Foundation, would clean up the BLS.
“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE. I know E.J. Antoni will do an incredible job in this new role,” Mr. Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social with a photograph of the pair in the Oval Office.
Mr. Antoni has criticized BLS methodology, calling its health insurance statistics “phony baloney” and joking that “the L is silent” in the BLS name.
In November, he said the Department of Government Efficiency “needs to take a chainsaw to the BLS.”
Mr. Antoni holds a doctorate in economics from Northern Illinois University and enjoys the support of former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
The Senate must confirm Mr. Antoni to take over for acting BLS Commissioner William Wiatrowski.
Mr. Wiatrowski took the helm after Mr. Trump fired Ms. McEntarfer on Aug. 1.
The president complained about a BLS report that showed a marked slowdown in hiring for July. He said Ms. McEntarfer was “incompetent” and inclined to side with Democrats.
The decision sparked fear from some that the administration would take a heavy hand in looking over the shoulder of BLS number crunchers who are supposed to be nonpartisan.
“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,” Jason Furman, a Harvard University economics professor who led the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, posted on X. “He would be a break from decades of nonpartisan technocrats.”
The Heritage Foundation, meanwhile, said Mr. Trump made a sound choice in selecting one of its own.
“EJ Antoni is one of the sharpest economic minds in the nation — a fearless truth-teller who grasps that sound economics must serve the interests of American families, not globalist elites,” foundation President Kevin Roberts said in a statement. “His leadership as chief economist at The Heritage Foundation has been instrumental in advancing our mission to protect American families and rebuild a resilient economy rooted in free enterprise.”
