President Donald Trump sent shockwaves through Washington by firing Biden-era Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday, as CNBC reports.
Hours earlier, the BLS released a dismal report showing just 73,000 nonfarm jobs added in July 2025, with a staggering 258,000 jobs slashed from prior months’ counts. Trump, accusing McEntarfer of cooking the books in the past to prop up Kamala Harris’ campaign, demanded her immediate ouster.
“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, who faked the Jobs Numbers,” Trump declared. His swift action underscores a no-nonsense approach to economic data integrity.
The BLS report revealed the weakest job growth since the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, with a three-month average of just 35,000 jobs. Such revisions, the largest since April 2020, fueled Trump’s suspicions of political meddling. McEntarfer, a Biden-era appointee, became the scapegoat for the embarrassing figures.
“We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump insisted, vowing to replace her with someone “much more competent.” Critics, however, argue the firing reeks of retribution against unflattering data. Peter Mallouk, of Creative Planning, called it unhealthy to sack officials over inconvenient numbers.
“We can’t have a set of numbers come out and fire somebody,” Mallouk huffed. His pearl-clutching misses the point: Americans deserve untainted economic reports, not massaged statistics serving progressive agendas.
The jobs report triggered a market bloodbath, with the Dow plunging over 500 points and the Nasdaq shedding more than 2%. Treasury yields cratered as investors braced for economic turbulence. Trump’s base, expecting a robust economy, felt blindsided by the sudden downturn.
Before July’s flop, Trump had hailed the labor market’s vigor, dubbing June’s data a “June Boom.” The abrupt reversal exposed the BLS’s reliance on estimated data, a practice ripe for abuse. Congressional Republicans have long slammed the agency’s sloppy revisions.
Trump’s 2025 spending plan, slashing BLS staff by 8%, signals his push to overhaul the agency. Such cuts, critics whine, threaten data reliability. Yet bloated bureaucracies rarely guarantee accuracy -- just more red tape.
Not sparing the Federal Reserve, Trump blasted chair Jerome Powell for allegedly rigging interest rates to boost Harris. “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture,’” he quipped. The Fed, keeping rates steady on July 30, 2025, now faces pressure for a September cut.
Futures markets bet heavily on a rate reduction post-report, reflecting economic jitters. Trump’s claim that Powell cut rates twice before the election to aid Harris lacks evidence, but resonates with his supporters. The Fed’s independence, already shaky, takes another hit.
“The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games,” Trump boasted. His bravado contrasts with the market’s grim reaction, highlighting the stakes of economic messaging.
A BLS spokesperson confirmed McEntarfer’s exit, naming Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski as Acting Commissioner. The agency, nestled under Trump appointee Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s Department of Labor, now faces scrutiny over its impartiality. Will Wiatrowski deliver unfiltered data, or bow to political winds?
Trump’s firing of McEntarfer sends a clear message: no one’s safe when numbers don’t add up. “Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate,” he stressed. Critics cry foul, but bureaucrats shouldn’t expect a free pass for shoddy work.
The episode exposes a deeper rift: can federal agencies, staffed by holdovers from prior regimes, serve a MAGA-driven administration? With markets wobbling and jobs data under fire, Trump’s gamble to clean house at the BLS could either restore trust or deepen chaos.
