TWO Opposes Nomination of Project 2025 Hack to Lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Delray Beach, FL – Truth Wins Out today strongly opposed the nomination of E.J. Antoni, a radical Heritage Foundation economist and contributor to Project 2025, to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The organization warned that Antoni’s partisan background, extremist policy positions, and history of shoddy, politicized work make him uniquely unfit to lead one of America’s most trusted sources of economic data.
“We are gravely concerned that Antoni is a sycophantic partisan who will gleefully cook the books to please Donald Trump,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We need a market economy, not a MAGA economy that would undermine faith in unbiased statistics, decrease investment and violate public trust.”
Trump nominated the unqualified Antoni after unceremoniously firingBLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer because her office produced a report showing that job growth in July was just half as much as last year’s average and for revising downward the estimated job creation of the two previous months.
“If the Bureau of Labor Statistics morphs into the Bureau of Good News, the United States will relinquish its global economic role,” said Besen. “It will only take one or two fake economic reports with bogus statistics for the castle to turn to rubble and the dollar to become more like the ruble. The precipitous fall of our economy could be quick, shocking and painful.”
Heritage Foundation and Project 2025
E.J. Antoni is a Heritage Foundation hack who participated in key research for Project 2025, a 900-page extremist plot to remake America into right wing dystopia.
Antoni has repeatedly attacked cornerstone programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In a December 2024 radio interview, he called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and urged that it be “sunset” — phased out — even if it means an entire generation pays into the system without receiving benefits. He has lumped Medicare and Medicaid into what he calls “different Ponzi schemes” that must be “dealt with,” signaling support for dismantling all three programs.
“These extraordinary programs have kept millions of seniors and vulnerable Americans out of poverty,” said Besen. “Putting an open opponent of the social safety net in charge of key economic data is reckless. It threatens to warp how BLS measures inflation, wages, and benefits — all of which directly affect Social Security and Medicare adjustments.”
Conservative Economists Sound the Alarm
Criticism of Antoni’s qualifications and independence has not been limited to progressive voices. Respected conservative and market-oriented economists have openly questioned his competence and credibility:
- Stan Veuger, economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said Antoni’s work “frequently included elementary errors or nonsensical choices that all bias his findings in the same partisan direction.”
- Jessica Riedl, a scholar at the free-market Manhattan Institute, said Antoni’s articles and tweets are “the most error-filled of any think tank economist right now,” adding that she hoped for better standards at BLS.
- Michael Strain, also of the American Enterprise Institute, warned that Antoni’s nomination “raises questions about the politicization of official data” and that BLS leadership requires “deep expertise and a commitment to nonpartisanship — neither of which Antoni has demonstrated.”
Pattern of Partisanship and Poor Judgment
Antoni has long blurred the line between policy analysis and partisan attack. He has called the Biden-Harris Labor Department “the land of make-believe” and claimed without evidence that monthly jobs reports are so unreliable they should be suspended — an unprecedented suggestion that would reduce transparency in labor market reporting. Such rhetoric mirrors talking points from the most extreme corners of partisan media, not the careful language of a serious statistician.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, who has praised Antoni as a “fearless truth-teller,” has openly described Project 2025 as a “wartime conservative” plan to remake the federal government. Antoni’s deep ties to this radical agenda leave little doubt about his priorities if confirmed to BLS.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics is too important to be turned into a propaganda arm of the White House,” concluded Besen. “The Senate must protect the credibility of our economic data by rejecting this dangerous and unqualified nominee. The health of our economy — and the trust of the American people — depend on it.”
For more information or to schedule an interview:
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director, wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Truth Wins Out is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that works to advance liberty and democracy, protect the rights of LGBTQ people and other minorities, combat religious extremism, and fight against the spread of disinformation.
