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Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump introduced his new nominee to go the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Monday night, lower than two weeks after firing the company’s earlier commissioner.
Who does Trump need to run BLS? E.J. Antoni, the chief economist on the Heritage Basis, a right-wing suppose tank, is Trump’s alternative for the highest job at BLS. Antoni will must be confirmed by the Senate earlier than taking the job.
What do I must find out about him? Antoni’s nomination has many economists significantly involved. BLS, which supplies information concerning the state of the US economic system, is a historically nonpartisan company, and Antoni is something however nonpartisan: He’s a longtime critic of the company who contributed to Challenge 2025, the Heritage Basis blueprint for a second Trump administration, and he’s extensively thought-about to be underqualified for the job.
Much more alarming, Antoni urged on Monday that BLS might cease issuing month-to-month jobs reviews, which offer an everyday take a look at the state of the US economic system and assist information financial decision-making. As an alternative, he urged, the company would launch solely quarterly information.
What’s the context for Antoni’s nomination? Trump wants a brand new BLS commissioner as a result of he fired the final one, Erika McEntarfer, after the company launched jobs numbers that confirmed hiring at effectively beneath anticipated ranges.
The choice raised considerations that Trump’s subsequent decide would really feel strain to report higher numbers, whatever the true totals. Antoni’s background and feedback do little to dispel that concern.
What’s the large image? As my colleague Andrew Prokop has written, it’s unclear how a lot room the BLS head truly has to fudge jobs numbers — but when it occurs, it might push the US into territory usually occupied by authoritarian regimes. It might probably additionally include severe financial penalties, undermining each confidence within the US economic system and the information that regulators and corporations use to make main selections, like setting rates of interest.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
From Defector and the brand new publication FOIAball, right here’s a narrative that mixes two nice tastes that style nice collectively: faculty soccer and Freedom of Data Act legal guidelines. FOIAball obtained a bundle of paperwork concerning the sometimes-stringent necessities for the scholars behind a few of the best-known mascots in faculty sports activities, and the ensuing piece from David Covucci is each hilarious and genuinely fascinating. With that, I hope you might have an awesome night and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow. Till then, lengthy stay Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern’s Model)!
