Trump’s decision to fire BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer unfolded after the agency released July jobs numbers and issued large revisions for May and June, lowering payroll gains by a combined 258,000 in those two months—the biggest such revision since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic during spring 2020.

In an interview with Meet the Press, White House National Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett defends President Trump’s decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.