On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we'll learn more about E.J. Antoni, Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation — the far right think tank behind Project 2025.
Earlier this month, Trump fired Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, falsely accusing her of rigging jobs reports.
May numbers initially reported 144,000 new jobs added, but was revised drastically downward to 19,000; for June, the original tally of 147,000 new jobs plunged to just 14,000; July likewise showed an anemic boost of 73,000 jobs.
The Nation's Chris Lehmann writes that BLS jobs numbers directly affect access to unemployment insurance in most states. Cost-of-living increases for Social Security payments are weighted to the BLS’s Consumer Price Index, which tracks the impact of inflation on the purchase of basic goods. COLA findings also determine eligibility for other basic income supports such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (aka food stamps), Medicaid, and (in most states) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Guests:
David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author of several books, including It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America
Chris Lehmann, DC Bureau chief for The Nation and author of The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream
Resources:
The Nation: The Case Against E.J. Antoni
DC Report: Hiding What Our Government Is Doing
