Several senior Republicans are speaking out against former President Donald Trump’s decision to fire the head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Erika McEntarfer, just hours after the release of a disappointing jobs report.
The July jobs report showed the U.S. economy added only 73,000 jobs, far fewer than expected. Previous months’ job gains were also revised down by a combined 258,000. The report added to concerns that the economy is slowing, with reduced consumer spending and lower economic output.
Trump, without providing evidence, claimed the numbers were “rigged” to harm him politically. He insisted the economy is “booming” under his leadership and announced McEntarfer’s dismissal via social media.
Many Republican lawmakers disagreed with his actions.
“If the president is firing the statistician because he doesn’t like the numbers but they are accurate, then that’s a problem,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. She called the decision “impetuous.”
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina added, “If she was just fired because they didn’t like the numbers, they ought to grow up.”
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky warned that removing trusted officials weakens the credibility of economic data. “You can’t really make the numbers better by firing the people doing the counting,” he said.
Lisa Murkowski, a senator from Alaska who supported Trump’s recent economic package, said the firing would make the public trust economic data even less. “That’s the problem,” she said.
William Beach, a former BLS commissioner appointed during Trump’s first term, said the firing was “totally groundless” and harmful to the agency’s mission. A letter signed by Beach and other statisticians said the move “undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics.”
The letter emphasized that the U.S. system is designed to prevent political interference and is seen as a global model.
Democrats also criticized the firing. Senator Bernie Sanders called it “the sign of an authoritarian type,” saying it would damage public trust.
Paul Schroeder, who leads a professional council for federal statistics, said the action was “outrageous” and would hurt the independence and reliability of government data for years.
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