After a Weak Jobs Report, Trump Says He’s Firing That Agency’s Commissioner
Hours after data showed cracks in the U.S. economy, President Trump implied that Erika McEntarfer manipulated the data for political reasons.
Only hours earlier, Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, offered a much different explanation for the jobs revision. In an appearance on CNBC, he said much of the change was the result of “quirks in the seasonal adjustment process” and even the president’s own policies, particularly on immigration, potentially affecting hiring numbers for May and June. He made no mention of any concerns about manipulated data.
President Trump and his top aides have made a habit of attacking government agencies, researchers and watchdogs when they have produced findings that the president personally did not like.
This year, Trump frequently sought to undermine the Congressional Budget Office, for example, seeking to discredit its projections that Republicans’ new tax law would add to the debt. His administration has similarly derided the Government Accountability Office, which produces widely regarded reports about legislation and spending, because that watchdog has probed the president’s budgetary tactics.
Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the Federal Reserve, part of his campaign to force the independent central bank to lower rates. And, now, he has attacked the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an important source of data for economic policymakers.