Nearly the entire Senate supported Erika McEntarfer in 2024 when she was nominated to lead the agency that produces key data on jobs and inflation. The widely respected economist was confirmed on a bipartisan 86-8 Senate vote, with support from Vice President JD Vance, who was then an Ohio senator, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator.
But Dr. McEntarfer was suddenly caught in the political crossfire on Friday when President Trump lashed out over the agency’s most recent jobs report and fired her for releasing monthly jobs data showing surprisingly weak hiring. He called the data “rigged” without offering any evidence, and he accused Dr. McEntarfer of manipulating the job numbers “for political purposes.”
Dr. McEntarfer was appointed to her most recent post by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2023. Before that, she earned her stripes at the Census Bureau, where she worked for over two decades under both Republican and Democratic presidents.
She graduated from Bard College with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, and she obtained a Ph.D. in economics at the Virginia Tech.
She began her career as an economist at the Census Bureau, where she worked for six years, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2008, she joined the Treasury Department, where she analyzed the president’s budget as well as the effect of tax policy proposals on revenue.
Dr. McEntarfer returned to the Census Bureau in 2010, assuming more of a leadership role. She became the head of research for the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program, which is responsible for developing new statistics on postsecondary employment outcomes and quarterly work force indicators.
She also served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Biden administration, advising senior White House officials on labor market data. Her time on the council came as the labor market was recovering from the pandemic.
Dr. McEntarfer hasn’t commented on her firing publicly, and it wasn’t clear what she would do next.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Labor secretary, said Friday that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as acting commissioner until a replacement was found.
In a statement on Friday, a group called the Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, made up of former commissioners who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, denounced Mr. Trump’s move to fire her. It accused the president of wanting someone to blame for the unwelcome economic news.
“The commissioner does not determine what the numbers are but simply reports on what the data show,” the group said. “The process of obtaining the numbers is decentralized by design to avoid opportunities for interference.”
Dr. McEntarfer’s role as commissioner was largely about managing and overseeing the agency of more than 2,000 nonpartisan staff members. Her predecessor, William Beach, is a member of the Friends group and was appointed by Mr. Trump during the president’s first term.
“The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as commissioner of labor statistics at B.L.S., sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the bureau,” he said on Friday.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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