1. United States
2. Del.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recent dismissal of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), by President Donald Trump following the release of July’s jobs report. Dr. McEntarfer is a respected labor economist with over two decades of public service, confirmed by the Senate in 2023 with strong bipartisan support. Her firing—reportedly due to a jobs report that showed weaker-than-expected employment growth—raises serious questions about the politicization of our nation’s economic data. The BLS has long been a nonpartisan institution, trusted by policymakers, businesses, and the public for its rigorous and impartial analysis of employment, inflation, and productivity. Undermining its independence threatens the integrity of our economic system. Experts, including former BLS Commissioner Bill Beach and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, have publicly defended the bureau’s methodology and warned that this firing could erode public trust in federal statistics, and hinder our country's ability to make sound economic decisions going forward. This action appears to be less about data accuracy and more about silencing inconvenient truths. If we allow political leaders to punish civil servants for reporting objective data, we risk turning our institutions into tools of propaganda rather than pillars of democracy. I urge you to speak out against this dismissal and take steps to protect the independence of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other federal statistical agencies. Congress must ensure that our data remains free from political manipulation and that professionals like Dr. McEntarfer are shielded from retaliatory actions.