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 studies from CNN and The Related Press on Tuesday, saying Trump “plans to announce a brand new nominee very quickly.”
Antoni is “an excellent economist and an American patriot that can proceed to do good work on behalf of our nice nation,” a White Home spokesperson mentioned. “President Trump is dedicated to fixing the longstanding failures on the BLS which have undermined the general public’s belief in essential financial knowledge.”
Sources advised 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’s simple that BLS wants reform and E.J. was the best man for the job,” Roberts mentioned. “E.J. will preserve calling for that reform and serving the pursuits of the American folks from his invaluable position as chief economist at Heritage.”
Trump tapped Antoni to move 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 unhealthy.
“Our Economic system is booming, and E.J. will be sure that the Numbers launched are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump mentioned when saying the nomination.
Antoni, who authored components of Challenge 2025, has been essential 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 considerations 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 assume I’ve ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee earlier than. However E.J. Antoni is totally unqualified to be BLS Commissioner,” Jason Furman, a high financial adviser in Barack Obama’s White Home wrote on social media on the time. “He’s an excessive partisan and doesn’t have any related experience. He can be a break from a long time 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 studies 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 plagued 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 in the course of 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 occasions of January sixth, observing after which leaving the Capitol space.” There isn’t a proof that he entered the Capitol constructing.
