Labor Leaders Demand Oversight Hearing on the Abrupt Firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner
“BLS has long provided relevant and timely data, and we must ensure neither political influence nor a lack of resources disrupts the quality of these important data releases.”
WASHINGTON – Today, Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce, and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), requested Chair Tim Walberg (MI-05), House Committee on Education and Workforce, hold an oversight hearing regarding President Trump’s abrupt firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.
President Trump fired Commissioner McEntarfer on August 1, following the release of the BLS monthly jobs report, which revealed that the economy showed poor job growth for three consecutive months.
“The President publicly asserted, ‘In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.’ This statement is only one of many the President has made that seeks to undermine the public’s confidence in BLS’s objectivity, and this explicitly retaliatory action suggests the President is unconcerned with ensuring the economic realities facing families are accurately reflected in the numbers,” wrote the Ranking Members.
“BLS has long provided relevant and timely data, and we must ensure neither political influence nor a lack of resources disrupts the quality of these important data releases,” the Ranking Members continued. “We ask that you schedule a hearing this month so that Committee Members can discuss the facts surrounding Commissioner McEntarfer’s dismissal and the importance of maintaining BLS’s independence from political interference.”
BLS has always served as a nonpartisan, data-driven federal agency that provides key information vital to the United States economy. The BLS data supports both public and private decision-making. No comparable comprehensive resource exists in the private or public sphere.
To read the full letter to Chair Walberg, click here.
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