"Former US Census Bureau Director 'fired by Trump': The time that should have been used for reforms was all spent dealing with Musk's DOGE."

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Erika McEntarfer, the former director of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics who was dismissed by Trump, spoke out publicly for the first time, calling her firing a "dangerous step" for the economy. She revealed that during her tenure, she was forced to spend a large amount of time dealing with interventions from the Musk administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), rather than advancing modernization reforms of the statistical system.

On Tuesday local time, McEntarfer delivered a speech to students at her alma mater, Bard College, stating that she originally hoped to push forward improvements in employment and inflation statistics, but ended up spending most of her efforts in 2025 on preventing interference from Elon Musk’s DOGE team. She said:

We dealt with more crises in a single week than we would normally see in an entire year.

McEntarfer expressed concern for the future, especially regarding the modernization of the statistical system. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still conducts employment status inquiries by phone and dispatches staff to manually check store shelf prices. She stated that as a specialist with 25 years of experience in improving statistical quality at the Census Bureau, she was prepared to help the Bureau of Labor Statistics modernize data collection.

Erika McEntarfer was removed from her post as director of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on August 1, with Trump accusing her of manipulating data to tarnish his political image. Former Bureau officials from both parties dismissed this charge as impossible.

McEntarfer recalled the events of the day she was dismissed. On August 1, she had a regular meeting with Trump administration officials, explaining that May and June employment data needed to be revised downward because late-reporting companies submitted unexpectedly weak hiring figures. A few hours later, she received a brief dismissal email from the White House.

McEntarfer warned that the phenomenon of statistical officials being forced to leave due to poor data performance has occurred in countries such as Argentina, Greece and Turkey, and that loss of trust in economic statistics had led those nations into more severe economic crises, higher inflation, and borrowing costs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is currently led by acting director William Wiatrowski. Trump has nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to take over the position, while the Bureau is facing challenges such as tight budgets and staff shortages, with the number of employees having dropped by 20% since January.

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