Commissioner for Bureau of Labor Statistics appointed

Molly Smith reports for Bloomberg on the appointing of EJ Antoni to head the BLS. Antoni has been vocal about recent estimate revisions.

Antoni came on Bannon’s podcast shortly after the latest jobs report was released, where he was asked if there was a “MAGA Republican” in charge of BLS. Antoni responded, “No, unfortunately.”

Antoni added that the absence of a Trump pick running the agency is “part of the reason why we continue to have all of these different data problems.” He contributed to the Project 2025 policy rubric, which, in part, called for maximizing hiring of political appointees at the Labor Department, which oversees BLS.

Antoni is calling for an audit of the full statistical process and more transparency. Interesting.