Who is Erika McEntarfer? Donald Trump fires Bureau of Labour Statistics commissioner

Erika McEntarfer, a longtime government employee, bore the brunt of President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with Friday’s jobs report.

President Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics hours after a report showed weak job growth, prompting outcries from economists and policymakers over the integrity of the data going forward.

Erika McEntarfer was appointed by former US President Joe Biden. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

In a social media post Friday, Donald Trump said he directed his team to fire Erika McEntarfer, who was appointed by Joe Biden, “IMMEDIATELY.” He added that “important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes".

Who is Erika McEntarfer?

• Erika McEntarfer, a longtime government employee, bore the brunt of President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with Friday’s jobs report, which showed that hiring had slowed in July and was much less in May and June that previously estimated.
• McEntarfer, whose research focuses on job loss, retirement, worker mobility, and wage rigidity, had previously worked at the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies, the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy and the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a nonpolitical role.
• She has a bachelor's degree in social science from Bard College and a doctoral degree in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
• McEntarfer was nominated in 2023 to serve as BLS head, and the Senate committee on health, education, labour and pensions recommended that her nomination go to the full Senate for a vote.
• She was confirmed as BLS commissioner in January 2024 on a bipartisan 86-8 Senate vote. Among the Republican senators who voted to confirm her included then-Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who is now Trump's vice president, and then-Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is now Trump's secretary of state.
• Before her confirmation hearing, a group called the Friends of the BLS, made up of former commissioners who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, members of statistical associations and credentialed economists, said McEntarfer's background made her a great choice for the job.
• William Beach, who was appointed BLS commissioner in 2019 by Trump and served until 2023 during President Joe Biden's administration, called McEntarfer's firing “groundless” and said in an X post that it “sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau.”
• Former Labour Department chief economist Sarah J. Glynn, who received regular briefings from McEntarfer about BLS findings, said McEntarfer was generous with her time explaining what conclusions could or couldn’t be reached from the data.

(With inputs from Bloomberg and AP)