Trump fires Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner after bad jobs report

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the principal fact-finding agency of the U.S. Department of Labor responsible for collecting and analyzing essential economic data, is headquartered at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC. [Photo by B Christopher]

In a move that has stirred controversy across political and economic circles, President Donald Trump dismissed Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after her bureau released a disappointing July jobs report Aug. 1.

The report showed only 73,000 new jobs, well below market expectations, and revised the May and June reports to show 258,000 fewer jobs. Trump immediately branded the figures “rigged” and accused McEntarfer, whom he described as a “Biden appointee,” of manipulating the data for political purposes. No evidence was presented to substantiate those allegations.

The firing drew swift and bipartisan criticism. Among the most pointed came from former BLS Commissioner William Beach, a Trump appointee, who called the firing “groundless.”

Beach underscored that monthly revisions are a standard part of the BLS process, driven by the agency’s ongoing collection of more complete survey data, not by political motives. He explained that the revisions reflect updated returns from the approximately 600,000 businesses and households surveyed, many of which submit data after the initial deadline.

Beach detailed how the commissioner’s role is limited in the jobs reporting process. BLS staff gather, process and finalize the data before the commissioner first sees the numbers, typically on the Wednesday before the report’s release. The numbers at that point are “locked” in the system.

“The commissioner doesn’t do anything to collect the numbers,” Beach said. “The only thing the commissioner does on Wednesday is to do edits to the text, so there’s no hands-on at all for the commissioner.”

The large downward revisions to the May and June employment figures, which Beach suggested may have fueled Trump’s anger, reflected the methodological rigor of the BLS. Because the agency leaves the data window open for two additional months to incorporate late survey responses, job numbers typically are adjusted — sometimes significantly.

This process is central to ensuring accuracy, but it can lead to politically sensitive surprises when revisions alter the economic narrative.

Beyond defending McEntarfer’s integrity, Beach expressed concern about the broader implications of her dismissal. “It undermines credibility in BLS,” he told CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “State of the Union.” “Suppose that they get a new commissioner, and they do a bad number. Well, everybody’s gonna think, ‘It’s not as bad as it probably really is’ because they’re gonna suspect political influence. So this is damaging. This is not what we need to have.”

The BLS has long been regarded as one of Washington’s most independent agencies, its mission rooted in delivering reliable, nonpartisan data to inform public policy. Experts warn that politicizing the commissioner’s role could corrode public trust not only in the BLS, but also more broadly in the federal data underpinning everything from interest rate decisions to federal spending priorities.

Trump’s decision fits into a broader pattern that has defined his political brand: challenging the credibility of institutions he perceives as hostile or inconvenient. His return to the White House was powered by a populist current deeply skeptical of Washington elites, bureaucracies and traditional gatekeepers. In this instance, critics argue, Trump is both reflecting and amplifying that distrust — casting doubt on neutral economic indicators that contradict his administration’s preferred narrative.

For now, McEntarfer’s dismissal leaves the BLS without a permanent leader as the agency faces demands for timely and accurate labor market data amid a cooling job market, heightened inflation concerns and a politically charged run-up to the 2026 midterm elections. Economists caution that if the public begins to view the BLS through a partisan lens, the fallout could extend well beyond the tenure of any single commissioner — compromising trust in U.S. economic policymaking.

As Beach said, the risk is that every future jobs report, regardless of who sits in the commissioner’s chair, will be met with suspicion. That erosion of faith, he warned, “is not what we need to have” when confidence in government institutions is already strained.