White House withdraws Trump’s controversial nominee to lead BLS after ousting predecessor over jobs data
By Kristen Holmes, Adam Cancryn, Andrew Kaczynski, CNN
(CNN) — The White House has sent paperwork to the Senate to withdraw the nomination of E.J. Antoni as head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three sources told CNN.
The withdrawal comes after CNN’s KFile reported earlier this month that Antoni operated a since-deleted Twitter account that featured sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay people, conspiracy theories, and crude insults aimed at critics of President Donald Trump.
A person familiar with the matter said GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski had declined to meet with Antoni, potentially raising concerns that his nomination was in trouble. CNN has reached out to the White House and Antoni.
In a statement praising Antoni Tuesday evening, a White House official said Trump planned to announce another nominee for the post soon.
“Dr EJ Antoni is a brilliant economist and an American patriot that will continue to do good work on behalf of our great country,” the official said. “President Trump is committed to fixing the longstanding failures at the BLS that have undermined the public’s trust in critical economic data.”
Antoni positioned himself as a watchdog for government accountability in media appearances and Heritage Foundation blog posts. But his own digital trail revealed a pattern of incendiary rhetoric that veered frequently into conspiracy theories and misogyny, KFile reported. (In a statement at the time, the White House defended Antoni and did not address whether he still holds the beliefs he espoused on the account in question.)
The Heritage Foundation on Tuesday said that Antoni will continue in his post at the conservative think tank.
“It is undeniable that BLS needs reform and E.J. was the right man for the job,” Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action, said in a statement to CNN. “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.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy — the Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction of the BLS nominee — would not directly answer if he had been told by the White House that Antoni’s nomination was being withdrawn. But he noted to CNN on Tuesday night that Antoni’s confirmation hearing had not officially been noticed – which is a sign a nomination is not moving forward.
“If you just look at who we’ve noticed, I think you’ll know whether he’s been pulled or not,” he said, adding “correct” when asked if that meant the nomination had been pulled.
“Well, you obviously notice people that you’re sure you got the votes for,” he said.
Trump nominated Antoni in August after firing the previous commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, whom he accused without evidence of rigging jobs data. The ouster came after the July jobs report showed weak growth that month, with significant downward revisions to the May and June reports.
Trump’s firing of McEntarfer, combined with his intrusions on the independence of the Federal Reserve, ramped up concerns about his politicization of US institutions designed to provide reliable, non-partisan statistics.
Established in 1884, BLS is an independently operated body within the US Department of Labor. The labor secretary, a member of the president’s Cabinet and has oversight of the BLS, but that agency is run by a Senate-confirmed commissioner.
The revisions that angered Trump were large, but they were not unprecedented in BLS history. May’s jobs total was revised lower to 19,000, down from an initial estimate of 139,000 — a total revision of 120,000 jobs. For the June jobs total, the BLS said the US economy added just 14,000 jobs, down from a preliminary estimate of 147,000 — a revision of 133,000 jobs.
The BLS tracks each month’s revisions dating back to 1979 but introduced a new probability-based sample design for revisions in 2003. Between 1979 and 2003, the average monthly revision was 61,000 jobs. Since 2003, the average monthly revision is 51,000 jobs.
The reports generated by the BLS – based on data from all corners of the economy – are among the most-watched indicators for the health of the world’s largest economy. With the pace of business and trading increasing (in some cases down to mere seconds for some investors), dependable, credible data series are crucial.
But it’s nearly impossible to generate complete reports at the speed markets would want. That’s where revisions come in, after initial survey-draw estimates are not as comprehensive in an immediate time frame.
CNN’s Em Steck, Kaitlan Collins, Ted Barrett, Kit Maher and Alicia Wallace contributed to this story.
This story and headline have been updated with additional information.
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