President Donald Trump dismissed Erika McEntarfer, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), following the release of weak jobs data that showed a sharp slowdown in hiring during the summer of 2025. Trump accused McEntarfer, a Biden appointee, of manipulating employment statistics and producing a "rigged" report to make him look bad, claims that have not been substantiated. The firing has drawn widespread criticism from former BLS officials, economists, and investors, who warn that the move could undermine confidence in the integrity of U.S. economic data and disrupt policymaking and market reliance on these statistics. William Beach, McEntarfer's predecessor and a Trump appointee, called the dismissal "baseless" and warned of damage to trust in the data. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the firing, citing persistent data errors and describing the agency's work as "lazy," suggesting a revamp was overdue. The White House economic advisers also defended the decision, pushing back against concerns that the firing would erode confidence in official economic data. The controversy has ignited a crisis at the BLS, which has faced longstanding challenges predating McEntarfer's ouster. The incident has raised broader questions about the reliability of government economic statistics and the political pressures surrounding them.