The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has another bruising nomination fight on its hands.
President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics isn’t an understated wonk or lifelong civil servant. E.J. Antoni is currently chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
If confirmed, Antoni would replace Erika McEntarfer, who was fired by Trump following significant downward revisions in the prior jobs report. Those revisions are a standard part of the BLS process, intended to improve the quality of government data month-over-month.
This isn’t a typical nomination, even by the uneven standards of the Trump administration. Trump’s firing of McEntarfer cracked open real fears about the long-term quality and reliability of core U.S. economic data — in particular, metrics that don’t square with Trump’s declaration of a “golden age” for the United States.
The 37-year-old Antoni has called Social Security “a Ponzi scheme,” a hugely controversial statement that Democrats have already seized upon. He’s criticized “neocons like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)” over their continued support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, as well as the huge run-up in government red ink by the first Trump administration.
Antoni incorrectly predicted a recession multiple times during Biden’s presidency while also urging conservatives to “under no circumstances” agree to an increase in the debt limit in 2023 without dramatic cuts in spending. GOP lawmakers just agreed to boost the debt limit by $5 trillion as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Antoni also isn’t a “soothe the markets” pick for this job either. Antoni told Fox News just prior to his nomination that the monthly jobs report ought to be replaced with a quarterly report until the BLS has improved data collection practices. That’s not a popular take among investors or economists at the Federal Reserve, who always want more government data, not less.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt walked that back somewhat during Tuesday’s briefing, saying the Trump administration wanted monthly reports with “data that the American people can trust.” Leavitt also defended Antoni’s qualifications, noting that he’d been “called before Congress to testify as an economic expert.”
The Wall Street Journal editorial page, a longtime thorn in Trump’s side, said this: “Mr. Antoni’s commentary at Heritage has been highly partisan, but the BLS job demands nonpartisan professionalism. … Mr. Antoni will have to take off his MAGA hat if he wants to ensure that the public and markets can trust BLS data.”
And Antoni isn’t beloved by other economists. He’s criticized the BLS for years, including this appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast to blast large downward jobs revisions in late 2024.
Even conservative economists have disputed his data and framing. The Manhattan Institute’s Jessica Riedl, an ex-staffer for former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) who previously worked at Heritage as an economist, said on X that “senators who vote to confirm Antoni are voting to essentially eviscerate the BLS and its jobs data.”
White House x Senate. The Senate is out until September. And right now, the administration’s top priority is getting Stephen Miran confirmed to an expiring term on the Federal Reserve Board. There’s also the backlog of more than 140 nominees awaiting a floor vote.
But Antoni’s nomination will have to go through a gauntlet at the Senate HELP Committee, a panel that’s given the Trump administration some trouble this year. The committee has Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) as its chair and GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) down the dais.
The HELP Committee doesn’t typically hold confirmation hearings for the BLS commissioner, though it has occasionally done so in the past. A hearing would give skeptical senators a chance to get answers from Antoni and more insights into how he’d lead the BLS.
It’s unclear if Cassidy will hold a hearing on Antoni’s nomination, although the White House sees one as inevitable. Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), are demanding it. In a statement, Murray called Antoni an “unqualified right-wing extremist who won’t think twice about manipulating BLS data.”
Cassidy has been vocal on ways to improve the BLS, including during McEntarfer’s tenure. Cassidy and Collins last year demanded more accountability from BLS, citing its “inability to produce initially reliable data.”
Cassidy spokesperson Stephen Lewerenz said the Louisiana Republican – who is up for reelection in 2026 – looks forward to meeting with Antoni, pointing to problems at the BLS.
“BLS’s years-long failure to produce reliable data — especially when that data has broad market-moving implications — is unacceptable,” Lewerenz said in a statement.
“We need a BLS Commissioner committed to producing accurate, unbiased economic information to the American people. Chairman Cassidy looks forward to meeting with Dr. Antoni to discuss how he will accomplish this.”
