President Donald Trump is pulling his controversial nomination for rightwing economist E.J. Antoni to guide the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The White Home confirmed the switch-up following experiences from CNN and The Related Press on Tuesday, saying Trump “plans to announce a new nominee very soon.”
Antoni is “a brilliant economist and an American patriot that will continue to do good work on behalf of our great country,” a White Home spokesperson mentioned. “President Trump is committed to fixing the longstanding failures at the BLS that have undermined the public’s trust in critical economic data.”
Sources informed each retailers that the Senate has acquired the paperwork essential to withdraw the nomination.
The Heritage Basis, the place Antoni is the chief economist, maintained Antoni’s {qualifications} in an announcement from its president, Kevin Roberts.
“It is undeniable that BLS needs reform and E.J. was the right man for the job,” Roberts mentioned. “E.J. will keep calling for that reform and serving the interests of the American people from his invaluable role as chief economist at Heritage.”
Trump tapped Antoni to go the division final month after firing former BLS Commissioner Dr. Erika McEntarfer and accusing her, with out proof, of manipulating a jobs report back to make him look dangerous.
“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump mentioned when asserting the nomination.
Antoni, who authored components of Mission 2025, has been crucial of how the BLS collects knowledge and posted about it on X after McEntarfer’s ousting. He additionally known as for her firing throughout an look on Steve Bannon’s podcast, agreeing with the host that they wanted a “MAGA Republican” at BLS.
Following his nomination, economists raised issues about Antoni’s allegiance to Trump, saying the BLS commissioner must be targeted on actual numbers with out placing any spin on them.
“I don’t think I have ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee before. But E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner,” Jason Furman, a prime financial adviser in Barack Obama’s White Home wrote on social media on the time. “He is an extreme partisan and does not have any relevant expertise. He would be a break from decades of nonpartisan technocrats.”
Antoni has additionally advocated for eliminating social safety, repeatedly slamming it as a “Ponzi scheme” throughout a radio interview from final 12 months unearthed by The Washington Submit.
Extra alarming experiences about Antoni emerged within the weeks following his nomination. Each CNN and Wired reported on what look like Antoni’s since-deleted Twitter accounts, discovering that the accounts had been affected by sexually degrading posts on Kamala Harris, homophobic remarks and Trump-approved conspiracy theories in regards to the 2020 election.
An NBC investigation additionally discovered that Antoni was within the crowd throughout the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on the U.S. Capitol. In response to the report, the White Home mentioned Antoni was merely on the town for conferences and was a “bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area.” There is no such thing as a proof that he entered the Capitol constructing.
