NEC director says Trump 'wants his own people' at Bureau of Labor Statistics after he fires commissioner

WASHINGTON, DC: National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett defended President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming that the POTUS "wants his own people there."

On Sunday, August 3, Trump told reporters that his administration would announce a new commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics "over the next three, four days," following McEntarfer’s dismissal. 

NEC director says Donald Trump 'wants his own people'

Donald Trump said on August 3, before boarding Air Force One in Allentown, Pennsylvania, “We’ll be announcing a new statistician sometime over the next three, four days. We had no confidence. I mean, the numbers were ridiculous, which she announced, but that was just one negative number. All of the numbers seem to be great.”

Interestingly, whoever he nominates as the new commissioner will need to be confirmed by the Senate. A weaker-than-expected jobs report last week has become a sore spot for the economy and for Trump.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly report on August 1 showed that the US economy added just 73,000 jobs in July 2025. Moreover, the monthly totals for May and June were revised down by a combined 258,000 jobs.

After the report was released, Trump posted on Truth Social, writing that “today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” and later announced Erika McEntarfer’s dismissal.

Notably, NEC Director Kevin Hassett did not provide evidence that the report was incorrect but said on NBC’s 'Meet the Press' that the “revisions are hard evidence” that the jobs data was rigged.

He added, “What we need is a fresh set of eyes over the BLS.” During an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday,' Hassett said that if he ran the BLS and had “the biggest downward revision in 50 years, I would have a really, really detailed report explaining why it happened.”

He further claimed that there are “partisan patterns” in the jobless data and insisted that “data can’t be propaganda.”

Former BLS Commissioner William Beach said on CNN’s 'State of the Union' that he still trusts the data coming from future jobs reports, despite McEntarfer’s firing.

However, he added that he wants Trump to “back off on his rhetoric” against McEntarfer and the bureau.

Internet reacts at NEC director's statement

People online reacted strongly to Kevin Hassett’s defense of Donald Trump’s decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, following his claim that the president “wants his own people there.”

One user wrote on X, “Translation: Yes, he will fire people who tell the truth,” while another added, “So he wants people there to put in numbers he tells them, thank you for confirming.”

Another person stated, “‘His own people', i.e., people that will tell him exactly what he wants to hear instead of telling him the truth,” whereas one user mentioned, “Sooooo, yes, he will fire anyone who doesn’t bend the knee. What an absolute clown show.”

Another comment read, “Why? It should be nonpartisan. He appoints his former CFO of the Trump Organization. Optics, at a minimum, are horrific.” One more user added, “What he really means, obviously: ‘No, absolutely not. The president wants people who tell him what he wants to hear.’”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.