President Donald Trump on Monday nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to serve as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The move comes 10 days after Trump abruptly fired Erika McEntarfer, whom he had accused without evidence of manipulating federal jobs figures. Antoni is a longstanding critic of the agency’s data revisions. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the economist would make sure employment and inflation numbers are “honest and accurate.” The nomination requires Senate confirmation. McEntarfer, confirmed in 2024 by an 86-8 Senate vote, was dismissed after the July jobs report showed a sharp slowdown in hiring and the BLS cut May and June payrolls by a combined 258,000 positions. Trump cited those revisions as proof that the statistics had been “rigged.” Economists and several lawmakers warned that replacing a non-partisan commissioner with a political loyalist could undermine global confidence in U.S. economic data, widely regarded as the gold standard. Supporters of the pick, including former White House strategist Steve Bannon, said Antoni will restore credibility to the numbers. If confirmed, Antoni would oversee the release of closely watched indicators such as the monthly employment report and consumer price index, data that guide Federal Reserve policy, corporate planning and household finances.