WASHINGTON – The nomination of E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics is being withdrawn by the White House, as confirmed by a White House official and an anonymous AP source discussing the discreet decision yet to be made public.
This White House official did not disclose specific reasons for withdrawing the nomination, only acknowledging that Antoni was recognized as a talented economist. President Donald Trump is expected to announce a new nominee shortly. The Senate was formally notified of the withdrawal of Antoni’s nomination on Tuesday.
Antoni’s nomination, initially announced in August, was seen as Trump’s attempt to exert more control over the federal agency responsible for generating essential economic data, such as the monthly jobs report and the consumer price index used in inflation assessments. As chief economist at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Antoni was notably critical of the BLS. However, many economists viewed him as highly partisan, expressing concerns over his misunderstanding of recessions, import prices, and other economic measures, making him a risky choice to head the agency.
Following Antoni’s nomination in August, Kyle Pomerleau, a tax expert with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, commented on X: “There are a lot of competent conservative economists that could do this job. E.J. is not one of them.”
The president of The Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, stated that Antoni “continues to be one of the sharpest economic minds in the country” and was ideally suited for the BLS position. Yet, his statement noted that Antoni would remain at the conservative think tank instead of assuming a government role.
Additional concerns regarding Antoni’s credibility surfaced. NBC News disclosed that Antoni was present outside the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Moreover, viewers noted that the artwork visible in Antoni’s TV interview backdrop depicted the German battleship Bismarck, used by Nazis during World War II.
Financial disclosures show that Antoni earned in excess of $495,000 for his work at The Heritage Foundation, in addition to other payments for speeches and consulting.
Trump fired Erika McEntarfer as BLS commissioner on Aug. 1 after the July jobs report showed a rapid slowdown in hiring, with job gains in May and June revised much lower than initially estimated.
The White House has maintained that it wants accurate figures after a series of downward revisions to the jobs report, but Trump has said on his social media site that the numbers were rigged to undermine him politically.
In the four months after Trump initially announced his country-by-country tariffs, job gains have averaged less than 27,000 a month. The slowdown was severe enough for the Federal Reserve in September to cut its benchmark rate in hopes of stabilizing the job market.
The White House also on Tuesday withdrew the nomination of Brian Quintenz to join the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as chairman. A White House official, insisting on anonymity to discuss the decision, called Quintenz a trusted ally and said that a new nominee would be forthcoming.
CNN first reported the withdrawal of Antoni’s nomination.
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