SB PM: A government-data skeptic with a history of economic errors

Economists say Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a disaster

Andrew Harnik / Staff

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is historically a low-profile, apolitical agency known for its trusted economic reporting. That changed two weeks ago when President Donald Trump abruptly fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after unfavorable job data showed a 16-year low in growth. He called his own administration’s numbers “phony” and “rigged,” without evidence.

Dr. McEntarfer was confirmed in January 2024 by a bipartisan 86–8 Senate vote. Among the Republicans who voted to confirm her were then-senators J.D. Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida.

On Monday, Mr. Trump nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation and contributor to the right-wing Project 2025, as her replacement. Dr. Antoni has criticized BLS data and praised Trump’s policies, calling on the Department of Government Efficiency last November to “take a chainsaw to the BLS.” He suggested in an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday that the BLS should suspend its monthly jobs report, one of the world’s most important pieces of data for measuring the health of the U.S. economy.

Antoni’s nomination has raised questions about the economist’s qualifications and concerns about the reliability of economic data going forward. Economists on both sides of the aisle agree that leaders of statistical agencies must be politically neutral.

Jason Furman, Harvard economist and chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration, called Antoni “completely unqualified.”

Former Heritage Foundation economist Jessica Riedl, who is now at the Manhattan Institute, said of Antoni, “the articles and tweets I’ve seen him publish are probably the most error-filled of any think tank economist right now.”

Alan Cole, an economist with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy, broke down Antoni’s reporting on housing, which Cole said might be “the worst Antoni content I’ve seen yet.”

Economist Brian Albrecht pulled together this thread of instances when Antoni misinterpreted or mischaracterized economic statistics. One of those examples was a post in which Antoni misread changes in the import price index:

A partisan nominee with critics on both sides of the aisle — and a history of data distortion — puts trust in federal statistics at risk and raises doubts about the reliability of future U.S. economic data.

Antoni’s nomination now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate, where confirmation is expected.