On September 5, 2025, President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Dr. E.J. Antoni, a 37-year-old economist from the Heritage Foundation, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The move, coming on the heels of Trump’s abrupt firing of Biden-appointed BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer, has ignited a firestorm in Washington, raising questions about data integrity, political influence, and the future of one of the country’s most critical economic agencies.
Trump made his intentions clear on Truth Social, declaring, "I’ve nominated the highly respected economist Dr. E.J. Antoni to serve as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics." The White House defended the choice, with spokesperson Taylor Rogers stating, "President Trump has nominated Dr. EJ Antoni to fix the issues at the BLS and restore trust in the jobs reports. Dr. Antoni has the experience and credentials needed to restore solution-oriented leadership at the BLS — solutions that will prioritize increasing survey response rates and modernizing data collection methods to improve the BLS’s accuracy."
But beneath the surface, Antoni’s nomination has become a lightning rod, drawing scrutiny from across the political spectrum. According to CNN, Antoni previously operated a since-deleted Twitter account between 2017 and 2020 that contained a litany of sexually degrading attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about LGBTQ people, conspiracy theories, and crude insults aimed at Trump’s critics. The posts, which included lines like "You can’t run a race on your knees" in reference to Harris and "Feminism is that belief by which women are liberated from false slavery to men in order to become true slaves to corporations," have been verified by CNN as originating from Antoni’s account, despite being posted under various aliases.
Wired first reported the existence of the account, noting its involvement in conspiracy discussions about the 2020 election and Covid-19, and even referencing Nazi rhetoric in some posts. Antoni’s posts also targeted progressive female lawmakers, with disparaging remarks about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. He frequently engaged with far-right accounts and promoted debunked theories, such as the claim that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was the source of leaked emails in 2016, rather than Russian hackers.
Antoni’s digital trail has alarmed civil rights advocates and economists alike. As NBC News reported and CNN confirmed, Antoni was present as a bystander at the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, though there is no evidence he entered the building. His outspoken criticism of the nonpartisan BLS—he has called into question the agency’s methods and impartiality—has further fueled concerns about his suitability for the position. Antoni’s own academic work has come under fire as well; a 2024 report he co-authored claimed the American economy has "actually been in recession since 2022," a conclusion rejected by economists from across the political spectrum.
Trump’s decision to remove McEntarfer and install Antoni comes at a precarious moment for the U.S. economy. The reliability of the BLS’s data is under the microscope, especially with the upcoming August 2025 nonfarm payrolls report expected to show a sharp slowdown in job growth. According to CNBC, forecasts predict the economy will have added just 75,000 nonfarm payrolls, down from an average of 123,000 in 2024, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.3% from 4.2% in July. Meanwhile, Challenger, Gray and Christmas reported that U.S. layoffs surged 39% in August to 85,979—the highest for that month since 2020.
The stakes are high. The Federal Reserve, led by Chair Jerome Powell, is closely watching labor market data to determine whether a rate cut is warranted at its September 16-17 policy meeting. Powell has already signaled that a weaker jobs report could prompt action, but as Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge told Yahoo Finance, "The ideal outcome for the Fed is a nonfarm payrolls figure between 70,000 and 95,000 — low enough to justify a rate cut but not so weak as to trigger recession fears."
Yet, as CNBC and Yahoo Finance highlight, the uncertainty swirling around the BLS’s leadership and the integrity of its data has muddied the waters for policymakers and investors alike. The ADP National Employment Report, often a bellwether for the official BLS numbers, showed private payrolls rising by just 54,000 in August—well below expectations. The stock market responded with a modest rally, but the broader concern is whether the BLS’s revised leadership will affect the accuracy or perception of the official data, potentially amplifying volatility in both traditional and crypto markets. The recent passage of the GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoins, adds yet another layer of complexity to the economic landscape.
Antoni’s nomination is now in the hands of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where moderate Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins could prove pivotal. A hearing is expected, a rare occurrence for this role—the last such hearing was for another Heritage Foundation economist, William Beach, during Trump’s first term. Antoni’s resume includes a PhD in economics from Northern Illinois University (2020), stints at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and his current role at the Heritage Foundation, which is a key architect of Project 2025—a plan that calls for consolidating the BLS with the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau to create a "more manageable, focused, and efficient statistical agency."
The White House has steadfastly defended Antoni, but has not addressed whether he still holds the views he espoused on his former Twitter account. After Wired’s reporting, Antoni’s relatives took to social media to defend him, noting that their grandfather fought for the United States in World War II. Nonetheless, the controversy has cast a long shadow over his nomination. The former BLS head criticized Trump’s firing of McEntarfer, warning that politicizing employment data could erode public trust and disrupt markets.
Despite the uproar, Antoni has refused calls to suspend the monthly U.S. employment report, emphasizing the importance of timely data for the economy and business. In media appearances, he has positioned himself as a watchdog for government accountability, but his history of incendiary online rhetoric and controversial academic claims have left many wondering whether he can truly restore faith in the agency he hopes to lead.
As the Senate prepares for what promises to be a contentious hearing, the future of the BLS—and the credibility of America’s economic data—hangs in the balance. The outcome will not only shape the direction of the nation’s labor statistics but could also reverberate through financial markets, the Federal Reserve, and the broader economy for years to come.
