Trump Administration’s Firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Head Won’t Alter the Reality that Workers Face
“Americans are dealing with the real consequences of the Trump Administration’s anti-worker agenda, not an alternate reality the President thinks he can create by hiding those consequences”
WASHINGTON, DC –The executive officers of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) commented on President Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after BLS released its Employment Situation Report for July (www.bls.gov). The July report indicated the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% and the total number of workers in the U.S. economy, excluding farm labor, has remained flat since April 2025.
IFPTE President Matthew Biggs:
“When asked why he fired the Commissioner of Labor Statistics on the day the agency released its monthly jobs report, President Trump replied, ‘Because I think her numbers were wrong.’ If nothing else, the President is blunt about his expectations that taxpayer-funded federal agencies and civil servants who take an oath to serve the public should say and do what he wants them to, not what is factual, lawful, and in the interest of the American people.
The BLS report for July comes as no surprise to anyone paying attention to the Trump Administration’s efforts to wreck the federal government, gut the dedicated and skilled federal workforce, start a self-defeating trade war with our ally Canada, attack workers rights in all sectors of the economy, and tear holes in the safety net that provides working people a path to the middle class. Working Americans are dealing with the consequences of the Trump Administration’s anti-worker agenda – they’re not living in an alternate reality that the President thinks he can create by hiding those consequences. Our union is steadfast in standing for our members’ livelihoods and union rights, for economic opportunity, and for an economy that works for working people.”
IFPTE Secretary Treasurer Gay Henson:
“On Friday, we saw a White House respond to warning signs about the direction of the U.S. economy and the labor market by applying political pressure to bad news, firing the messenger, and refuting factual analysis. Sadly, that response is consistent with the Administration’s approach of putting a thumb on the scales, injecting partisanship into apolitical government roles, and interfering in government operations in a way that threatens the legitimacy of a government that is for the people, by the people, and of the people. IFPTE members working for the federal government are experiencing these threats firsthand, but they remain committed to doing their jobs the best they can, upholding their oath, and working on behalf of the American people. As ever, we are open to working with any lawmakers and decision-makers who share our members’ commitments.”
IFPTE is a labor union representing upwards of 90,000 workers in the federal, public, and private sectors.
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