Trump BLS Nominee Could Shift How America Tracks Jobs and Wages

President Donald Trump has nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, to serve as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)—the federal agency that compiles and releases the country’s most important economic data, including jobs, wages, and inflation.

Trump announced the pick Monday, writing on social media, “Our economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the numbers released are honest and accurate.”

The move comes after Trump removed former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer earlier this month following the release of the July jobs report. That report showed slower-than-expected job growth and significant downward revisions to earlier months. Trump accused the report of being “rigged,” though no evidence has been presented to support that claim.

Antoni has been a frequent critic of the agency’s monthly jobs reports, arguing that the data used to create them is unreliable. He has proposed suspending monthly reports in favor of quarterly reports, which he believes would be more accurate. “Major decisionmakers from Wall Street to D.C. rely on these numbers, and a lack of confidence in the data has far-reaching consequences,” Antoni told Fox News Digital.

For decades, the BLS—part of the U.S. Department of Labor—has been considered a gold standard for economic data. Experts from both Republican and Democratic administrations say its rigorous review process makes political interference highly unlikely. Still, some economists worry that changing the reporting schedule or methodology could reduce transparency and disrupt the markets, businesses, and communities that depend on timely labor statistics.

Most economists attribute the scale of recent BLS revisions to post-pandemic issues such as difficulties gathering data and fewer responses to surveys. Antoni, however, is part of a group of pro-Trump economists who believe the agency has “massaged” numbers to help Democrats and hurt Republicans.

His nomination will now go before the Republican-controlled Senate. If confirmed, Antoni would oversee the BLS’s work producing reports on employment, inflation, and wages—data that influence national economic policy, shape business decisions, and affect how families and local governments across the country plan for the future.

Critics—including some conservative economists—have questioned Antoni’s qualifications for the role. “There are a lot of competent conservative economists that could do this job. E.J. is not one of them,” wrote Kyle Pomerleau, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, on social media.