President Donald Trump has just nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at The Heritage Foundation, to serve as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Monday night.
The nomination comes after Trump fired the previous commissioner, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, whom he accused of manipulating jobs data for political purposes.
Trump announced the nomination on Truth Social.
Antoni brings extensive conservative economic credentials to the position. He currently serves as chief economist and Richard Aster fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget.
Antoni holds master’s and doctoral degrees in economics and previously worked as an economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and regularly appears on major news outlets including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC. Antoni frequently testifies before Congress and state legislatures on economic issues and has taught courses ranging from labor economics to money and banking.
The Heritage Foundation was the primary architect behind Project 2025, a comprehensive conservative blueprint for Republican presidential administrations. The 900-page policy agenda proposes sweeping federal agency reforms, rollbacks of progressive policies, and major civil service restructuring.
Trump’s decision to replace McEntarfer, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden, comes after recent scandals over BLS job reports. The July jobs report showed U.S. employers added only 73,000 jobs, far below the 109,000 jobs forecasters expected. Hiring figures for May and June were also revised down sharply, with a combined total of 258,000 fewer jobs added over the last three months compared to previous reports. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent in June.
Trump posted on Truth Social after the July report’s release:
I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers.
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.
The Heritage Foundation economist’s background in conservative policy analysis and frequent media appearances defending free-market principles align with Trump’s economic agenda.