Trump’s former jobs data chief decries firing of his successor

President Donald Trump’s firing of the chief labor statistician was criticized by her predecessor, who called it an unfounded move that will undermine confidence in a key data set on the U.S. economy.

“This is damaging,” William Beach, whom Trump picked in his first term to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Trump on Friday fired Erika McEntarfer hours after labor market data showed weak jobs growth based in part on steep downward revisions for May and June. The move by Trump, who claimed the latest monthly report was “phony,” prompted an outcry from economists and lawmakers.

“I don’t know that there’s any grounds at all for this firing,” said Beach, whom McEntarfer replaced in January 2024. “And it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility in BLS.”

Former BLS commissioner @BeachWW453 on Trump firing his successor over weak jobs numbers: “I don't think there's any grounds at all for this for this firing. And it really hurts the statistical system. It undermines credibility…. This is damaging.” pic.twitter.com/q7lrqfNnjE

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) August 3, 2025

Studies indicate that the agency’s data is more accurate than 20 or 30 years ago, including any revisions of the initial data, Beach said. Even so, he said he’ll trust future BLS data because people working for the agency are “some of the most loyal Americans you can imagine,” making the bureau “the finest statistical agency in the entire world.”

McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan 86-8 vote. Vice President JD Vance, then a senator, voted to approve her nomination.

BLS's first-release estimates of nonfarm payroll employment have gotten more, not less, accurate over time. pic.twitter.com/YqV2Eyg60p

— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) August 2, 2025

Kevin Hassett, Trump’s chief economic adviser at the White House, alleged that the large jobs data revisions were poorly explained and were evidence enough for a “fresh set of eyes” at BLS. He sought to contradict Beach’s portrayal of the agency as politically neutral.

“The bottom line is that there were people involved in creating these numbers,” Hassett said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

WELKER: Does the administration have any evidence that the jobs numbers were rigged?

HASSETT: The evidence is that there have been a bunch of revisions

WELKER: But hard evidence?

HASSETT: The revisions are hard evidence

(They are not "hard evidence") pic.twitter.com/MKJxThHq3V

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 3, 2025

Pressed on whether Trump would fire anyone offering data he disagreed with, Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council, disagreed.

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they’re more transparent and more reliable.”