Trump Fires BLS Commissioner Following Poor Employment Report
President Donald Trump dismissed a Commissioner from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday after receiving an unfavorable employment report. He accused the commissioner of falsifying employment numbers to benefit Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.
The Labor Department revealed that the U.S. economy created 73,000 jobs in July, resulting in a 4.2% unemployment rate.
On Friday, Trump took to social media to express his concerns about the BLS commissioner, claiming that she was a Biden appointee who manipulated employment data to enhance Kamala Harris’s electoral chances.
I’ve been informed that the job numbers we see are being produced by a Biden appointee, Labor Statistics Commissioner Dr. Erica Mantelfer. This is the same bureau that exaggerated job growth back in March 2024, reporting around 818,000 jobs, and then 112,000 jobs right before the presidential elections in August and September. How can anyone be that consistently wrong? We need accurate job numbers. I’ve directed my team to dismiss this political appointee immediately.
She will be replaced by someone much more capable and qualified. Such key positions must maintain fairness and accuracy. The numbers reported by McEntarfer—only 73,000 jobs added—are quite shocking! Moreover, if we look over the past two months, it seems we added 258,000 jobs. The same pattern showed in the early half of the year, but it consistently ended on a negative note. Despite the Fed’s games, the economy is thriving under my leadership. Interest rates were lowered twice right before the elections, but it feels like an effort to support Kamala. Perhaps Jerome ‘too late’ Powell should also be out of the picture. Appreciate your attention to this situation!
Taylor Budwich, deputy chief of staff at the White House, stated that the BLS commissioners were let go for consistently misrepresenting economic data.
It’s unacceptable. She was dismissed after repeatedly getting it wrong. You can’t perform this poorly at your job. For over a year, she missed the mark by hundreds of thousands of jobs. Policymakers depend on these reports to make informed decisions, like interest rate cuts by the Fed. Accuracy is essential, and President Trump aims to restore the reliability of this crucial agency.
McEntarfer was appointed by Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Senate in 2024 as the 16th chairman of the BLS, with an 86-8 bipartisan vote. Notably, Senators Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance supported her nomination.
Trump continued to allege that today’s job figures seem to be manipulated to benefit the Republicans, just as they did during the last presidential election. He mentioned that the job numbers were “revised down” post-election, claiming over 818,000 jobs were affected. He criticized Jerome Powell’s performance while highlighting that, overall, the country is doing well.
White House economist Stephen Milan acknowledged that the employment report isn’t favorable. He noted that the downward revisions stem from atypical factors, with about 60% related to seasonal adjustment issues.
