Trump criticized for firing BLS chief after jobs report
Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer oversaw a July jobs report that the president claims was rigged


What happened
The White House Sunday defended President Donald Trump from criticism over his decision Friday to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer following a jobs report that showed lower-than-expected hiring in July. But Trump's economic advisers repeatedly declined to offer evidence to support his claim that the numbers were "rigged" to make him look bad.
Who said what
Trump sacked McEntarfer, a veteran labor economist confirmed by the Senate 86-8 last year, after the BLS reported job gains of only 73,000 last month and revised the May and June numbers downward by 258,000 jobs. Employment numbers are often revised as more data comes in, and these changes, "while large, were not unheard of," The Washington Post said. But they "hit at an especially sensitive point" for Trump, suggesting his tariffs and other policies have "started to seriously slow the economy."
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Trump was "absolutely not" shooting the messenger by firing McEntarfer but "wants his own people there, so that when we see the jobs numbers, they are more transparent and more reliable." Hassett told "Fox News Sunday" there were "partisan patterns" in the jobless data and "we need to understand why" the "BLS numbers" are so anemic.
This is "definitely a case of shooting the messenger," Dean Smith, the chief strategist at FolioBeyond, said to Reuters, and "it's going to undermine confidence in the data going forward." There is "no way for a commissioner to rig the jobs numbers," William Beach, a former BLS commissioner appointed by Trump in 2017, told CNN's "State of the Union." It's a "preposterous charge," former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said on ABC's "This Week." And firing an agency head over numbers you don't like is "way beyond anything that Richard Nixon ever did."
What next?
Trump Sunday night called McEntarfer's report a "scam" filled with "ridiculous" numbers and said he would announce her replacement "over the next three, four days."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
5 hawkish cartoons about Pete Hegseth's meeting of military muscle
Cartoons Artists take on fat generals, bravery medals, and more
-
Why are American conservatives clashing with Pope Leo?
Talking Points Comments on immigration and abortion draw backlash
-
9 haunted hotels where things definitely go bump in the night
The Week Recommends Don’t fear these spirited spots. Embrace them.
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies