President Donald Trump has fired the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, after accusing her – without providing evidence– of altering monthly jobs reports for political purposes, including to help former Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of victory.
The demand to fire the commissioner, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, came after a lackluster July report – and adjusted numbers for previous months – put the administration on the defensive. The report, released Friday morning, showed slowed hiring, with U.S. employers adding 73,000 non-farm jobs, far short of the expected 105,000 jobs added.
“We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social. “I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”
There is no evidence that McEntarfer or BLS manipulated data, but Trump continued to claim foul play.
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“In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” he posted on Truth social “Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 Presidential Election, and then, those numbers were “taken away” on November 15, 2024, right after the Election, when the Jobs Numbers were massively revised DOWNWARD, making a correction of over 818,000 Jobs — A TOTAL SCAM.”
But maybe more crushing than the report itself were the disappointing revisions for May and June. Job gains across those months were revised down by a staggering 258,000, suggesting a weaker picture of a labor market than had been painted throughout the spring.
The White House blamed Federal Bank Chair Jerome Powell for the report soon after the results were public. They continued to implore him to lower interest rates. And an administration official told NOTUS that the report simply confirmed that the rates need to be lowered.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter!,” the president concluded the post.
Labor Department Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said she supported the president’s call to fire McEntarfer and named Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski as her acting replacement while a search for a permanent candidate — who would need to be confirmed by the Senate — is ongoing.
“A recent string of major revisions have come to light and raised concerns about decisions being made by the Biden-appointed Labor Commissioner,” she wrote on X.
“I support the President’s decision to replace Biden’s Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS.”
The report now sets the stage for a potential interest rate cut, something Trump has aggressively demanded from Powell, who has said he wanted to wait and see the economic impacts of Trump’s tariffs before taking Fed action, including as recently as this week.
The president will get a rare and early opportunity to appoint a new candidate to be a governor at the federal reserve, after the Fed announced on Friday that Adriana Kugler would resign from her position next week. Her departure provides Trump with the chance to install a more favorable candidate that could give him more influence on the 12-person board– and in his years-long fight with Powell.
Shortly before the report was released, Trump was lambasting Powell on social media and suggesting the board overrule him.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell, a stubborn MORON, must substantially lower interest rates, NOW,” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday. “IF HE CONTINUES TO REFUSE, THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”
While Trump administration officials expressed disappointment with the report, they hyped some metrics– like the 3.9% hourly wage growth and the fall of foreign-born workers. But they also quickly pivoted to joining the president and blaming the Fed Chair for the abysmal numbers.
“Why doesn’t Powell “want to be on board for the American people?” Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on Fox News Friday morning. “We need those interest rates down so that our businesses can borrow more money at a cheaper rate and invest in their companies, invest in the American economy.”
While other administration officials said the numbers were the result of foreign workers leaving the country.
“Since the President took office, he created about 2.5 million jobs for Americans, whereas we’ve eliminated about a million jobs for foreign-born workers,” Council of Economic Advisors Chair Steve Miran said. “That’s a result of our strong economy.”
Stock market futures and Treasury yields trended lower upon report release. The dollar also dropped.
Democrats were quick to pounce on the news, slamming the White House for politicizing the economic process.
“Today we got some of the worst labor numbers that we’ve gotten in a long time,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech. “But what does Donald Trump do? Instead of trying to fix the economy he shoots the messenger.”
During his speech, Schumer said McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in a 88-8 vote with now-Vice President JD Vance voting for her.
“Donald Trump sometimes admires dictators, he admires them. Well he sometimes acts just like them. It’s a classic Donald Trump, when he gets the news he doesn’t like, he shoots the messenger.”
And they questioned whether future jobs numbers or other core economic data that BLS is responsible for will retain credibility now that the president is interfering in the process.
Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith said, “Having good data is a core piece of being able to run the economy. I mean you can fire people, but it doesn’t change the facts.”
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This story has been updated.
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