Economists blast Trump decision to fire BLS chief

Source: The Hill

08/04/25 4:09 PM ET


Economists across the political spectrum are sounding the alarm over President Trump’s decision to fire the Labor Department’s top statistician in response to a stalled-out July jobs report that showed weakness in hiring going back to May.

Economists across the political spectrum spent the weekend sounding alarm bells about what it would mean for the U.S. to have politicized economic data coming out of statistical agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). “This is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism … This is really scary stuff,” Harvard University economist Lawrence Summers, who worked for the Clinton and Obama administrations, told ABC News on Sunday.

Some conservative economists issued similar warnings. “President Trump is undermining the integrity of the information that policymakers, businesses, households, and investors use to make important decisions that affect the welfare of the nation,” Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, wrote in a commentary.

He said it was “imperative” that people understand that U.S. economic stats are unbiased. “By casting doubt on that, the President is damaging the United States,” he added.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5435327-economists-alarm-trump-fires-statistician/