Trump Fires Biden-Appointed Labor Statistics Boss After Major Revisions To Jobs Reports
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following what he described as “highly manipulated” jobs data and a pattern of misleading reports aimed at bolstering former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle.
The July jobs report showed a major slowdown in hiring, with only 73,000 jobs added—well below expectations—and an unemployment rate ticking up to 4.2%. More troubling to the Trump administration were sharp negative revisions to the May and June jobs numbers, which were slashed by a combined 260,000 jobs. According to the president, this was not an isolated mistake but part of a deliberate pattern.
“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,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “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.”
Trump’s claim refers to a major downward revision made last year, when the BLS corrected its annual benchmark, reducing previously reported job gains by more than 800,000. While that revision covered data through March 2024 and was published in August—well before the November election—the Trump administration has argued the initial inflation of numbers was politically motivated.
NBC News confirmed that McEntarfer was dismissed, with the BLS deputy director, Bill Wiatrowski, stepping in temporarily. Wiatrowski, too, began his tenure under the Obama administration, raising questions within conservative circles about whether the agency’s leadership needs a broader overhaul.
Trump didn’t hold back in a follow-up post, calling the latest report “rigged” and accusing government officials of trying to hurt Republicans. “Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 Presidential Election, and then, those numbers were ‘taken away’ on November 15, 2024, when the Jobs Numbers were massively revised DOWNWARD, making a correction of over 818,000 Jobs — A TOTAL SCAM,” he wrote.
Critics have argued the timing and scale of the revisions were part of a larger pattern during the Biden administration to artificially inflate economic performance. Trump’s team, now overseeing federal agencies again, has pledged to restore integrity and transparency across key departments that were allegedly politicized during the prior administration.
McEntarfer had spent over two decades moving through multiple federal agencies, including the Census Bureau, the Treasury Department, and the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Her resume, while extensive, raised red flags among Trump-aligned economists who cited her ties to Obama- and Biden-era policy teams.
Trump didn’t stop at the BLS. He also took aim at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, calling for him to be removed over what he described as politically timed interest rate cuts designed to boost the economy ahead of the 2024 election.
“The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting ‘Kamala’ elected – How did that work out? Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture.’”
The firings and harsh words make it clear: Trump is cleaning house, holding federal officials accountable, and sending a strong message that politicized data manipulation will no longer be tolerated.