WASHINGTON — Conservative economist E.J. Antoni’s nomination to become the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was withdrawn by the White House late Tuesday, with much of the nation’s capital focused on the ongoing drama of the government shutdown.
“Dr. E.J. Antoni is a brilliant economist and an American patriot that will continue to do good work on behalf of our great country,” a White House official said in a statement.
“President Trump is committed to fixing the longstanding failures at the BLS that have undermined the public’s trust in critical economic data. The President plans to announce a new nominee very soon.”
Trump nominated Antoni Aug.11, ten days after firing then-BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following a lackluster jobs report that coincided with significant revisions to past figures the bureau released.
Antoni, the chief economist for The Heritage Foundation, was expected to face a close confirmation vote in the Senate amid criticism that he lacked experience both in public serve and in compiling labor data.
Further complicating Atoni’s path to the nomination was a September CNN story that uncovered a since-deleted X account from where he hurled inflammatory insults at Trump’s rivals.
The BLS had revised its payroll growth numbers down by 258,000 for June and May, the steepest two-month downward revision since 1968.
When the revisions came out, Trump publicly fumed that the numbers were “rigged in order to make the Republicans, and me, look bad.”
“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory,” he wrote on Truth Social at the time.
McEntarfer claimed her firing was an “attack on the independence of an institution arguably as important as the Federal Reserve for economic stability.”
A date had not been publicly set for what would have been Atoni’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts praised Atoni after news broke that his nomination had been withdrawn.
“Dr. E.J. Antoni continues to be one of the sharpest economic minds in the country,” he said. “E.J.’s immense capabilities and insightful economic analysis have not changed—and we are very proud to have him on our team.”
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