Will the Senate Trust Trump’s Pick with Economic Data?

Punchbowl News: “President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics isn’t an understated wonk or lifelong civil servant. E.J. Antoni is currently chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation.”

“If confirmed, Antoni would replace Erika McEntarfer, who was fired by Trump following significant downward revisions in the prior jobs report. Those revisions are a standard part of the BLS process, intended to improve the quality of government data month-over-month.”

“This isn’t a typical nomination, even by the uneven standards of the Trump administration. Trump’s firing of McEntarfer cracked open real fears about the long-term quality and reliability of core U.S. economic data — in particular, metrics that don’t square with Trump’s declaration of a ‘golden age’ for the United States.”