Poli Alert Politics & Civics
Related Articles
The White House has withdrawn President Donald Trump’s nomination of economist E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), according to a White House official and an AP source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The decision has not yet been publicly announced.
The formal paperwork withdrawing Antoni’s nomination was submitted to the Senate on Tuesday. The White House did not provide a specific reason for the withdrawal but said Antoni remains a “talented economist” and that Trump intends to nominate a replacement soon.
Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, was a vocal critic of the BLS before his nomination. The agency produces critical economic indicators, including the monthly jobs report and the consumer price index, which are closely watched by markets and policymakers.
His nomination, announced in August, drew immediate skepticism from many economists who cited concerns about partisanship and his interpretations of key economic metrics, including recessions and import prices.
“There are a lot of competent conservative economists that could do this job. E.J. is not one of them,” said Kyle Pomerleau, a tax expert at the American Enterprise Institute, in a social media post.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts defended Antoni, calling him “one of the sharpest economic minds in the country” and “the right man for the job,” while noting he will continue his work at the think tank instead of joining the federal government.
Additional details raised concerns about Antoni’s suitability for the role. NBC News reported he was present outside the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, insurrection, and background images in televised interviews included artwork of the German battleship Bismarck, associated with Nazi Germany. Financial disclosures also show Antoni earned more than $495,000 at the Heritage Foundation, along with other income from speeches and consulting.
The withdrawal comes after Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Aug. 1 following downward revisions to the July jobs report, which had shown a slowdown in hiring. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that the BLS numbers were manipulated to politically undermine him.
The slowdown in job growth, averaging fewer than 27,000 new jobs per month after Trump announced his country-by-country tariffs, contributed to the Federal Reserve’s September decision to cut interest rates.
In a related move, the White House also withdrew the nomination of Brian Quintenz to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
