Ashley Nowicki

August 1, 2025 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations Statement from the American Economic Association on the Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today. The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day. Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias. The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity. Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions. We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure. Lawrence Katz President, American Economic Association Katharine Abraham President-Elect, American Economic Association Karen Dynan Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics Kenneth Troske Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

Federal government paying 154,000 people not to work The federal government is paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work as part of the deferred resignation program.

A total of 154,000 federal employees took the deferred resignation program.
(Remember, the government is still paying these employees, so they will not show up on unemployment figures yet)
abcnews.go.com/Politics/fed...

Show me your budget, and I'll show you your values

A big shoutout to the Supreme Court's Republican supermajority, which has spent the last six months repeatedly affirming to Trump that he has their permission to fire any government employee he wants, for any reason or no reason at all

A new report from the American Statistical Association reveals that federal statistical agencies—the government offices that collect and publish official data about everything from unemployment rates to immigration patterns—are in serious trouble.

www.amstat.org/docs/default...

Firing the statistician for news he doesn't like. Very worrying.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under “TRUMP” despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting “Kamala” elected – How did that work out? Jerome “Too Late” Powell should also be put “out to pasture.” Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Okay you can officially get ready for an attempt to cook the books.

When Republicans hold power, they hurt people, tank the economy, and then distort our democracy to preserve their power because hurting people and tanking the economy is unpopular.

Democrats Introduce Bill To Audit What DOGE Bros Did To Government Data Systems

Senate Democrats are introducing a bill today to require a sweeping audit of the federal govt's computer systems, to figure out if the DOGE Bros left your sensitive data vulnerable and are potentially selling it to Big Tech and AI. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

News stories framing the Bove confirmation vote as just standard issue partisan squabbling help explain how we got here.

A better title for Manchin's book would have been "The Nice Things You Don't Have and Why You Don't Have Them"

We already tried this and we know the results: When Trump previously forced Department of Agriculture scientists to relocate to Kansas City, it led to a mass exodus of about 75% of staff, enormous disruption to the mission of the unit, and fewer Black employees.

Second Whistleblower Backs Up Claims Emil Bove Told DOJ Lawyers To Defy Court Orders

NEW: A second whistleblower and former DOJ attorney has produced evidence that backs up allegations that Trump's court pick Emil Bove told DOJ attorneys to defy court orders, mislead judges and say "fuck you" to judges who rule against them, says whistleblower group. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

Holy - and I cannot emphasize this enough - shit.

Also, this guy was a senior project 2025 organizer.

US Department of Labor launches self-audit programs to help regulated community strengthen compliance with federal labor laws

What the fuck www.dol.gov/newsroom/rel...

Is this cancel culture?

Emil Bove Consulted With Far-Right Legal Group After Trump Nominated Him The president’s court pick had discussions with Alliance Defending Freedom, which is also involved in a case that could come before Bove if he’s confirmed.

ICYMI: Emil Bove, easily Trump's most dangerous judicial nominee, consulted with a far-right legal group after Trump nominated him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ― the same court currently overseeing a case this group is actively involved in. www.huffpost.com/entry/emil-b...

This morning, I hosted a briefing on Rental Housing and Algorithmic Collusion to shine a spotlight on how landlords are colluding using algorithms, which artificially drives up already high rent prices across the country.

Watch the full briefing: youtu.be/cSBTMOAORSQ

Angus King Says He Voted to Confirm This Anti-Choice Trump Nominee Because Josh Hawley Asked Nicely The first member of the Senate Democratic Caucus to back a Trump nominee does so for the most embarrassing reason imaginable.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Angus King now says that voting to confirm a 35-year-old anti-choice activist to a life-tenured federal judgeship on the advice of Josh Hawley was a "mistake" ballsandstrikes.org/nominations/...

We have done this experiment one billion times and it has worked great all one billion times.

Senate Inches Forward With Trump’s Alarming Court Pick, Emil Bove

All but two Republicans -- Lisa Murkowski + Susan Collins -- just voted to move forward with Bove's nomination to a lifetime federal judgeship.

Bove is credibly accused of telling DOJ attorneys to defy court orders and say “fuck you” to judges who rule against DOJ. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

The executive/judiciary is eating Congressional power, and Republicans in Congress are happy to go along.
Bove symbolizes this: You have a whistleblower saying that Trump's lawyer urged employees to lie to/ignore the courts/law now becoming a Judge, and Republicans are fine with it.

A key benchmark of Trump's personalist regime is that his personal lawyers are now occupying key positions of power, and using those positions to focus on the interests of their client rather than (and at the expense of) the public interest and their oath the constitution

I'm sorry, am I supposed to accept that Trump v. Wilcox, a virtually unreasoned shadow docket stay, has precedential value, but Humphrey's Executor, a near-century-old unanimous merits decision saying presidents can't fire agency heads willy nilly, does not?

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

Another day, another shadow docket decision where SCOTUS overrules Congress, precedent and the law to allow Trump to continue to pick apart the federal government.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/when-youre...

Justice Kavanaugh concurrence: when a case is about whether we get to narrow or overrule a precedent we really don’t like (here, Humphrey’s Executor), let’s just skip over the court of appeals, grant cert before judgment, and just do the damn thing!

Stare decisis = for suckers.

Justice Kagan cuts to the chase:

"By means of [its repeated, unexplained grants of emergency relief to the Trump administration], this Court may facilitate the permanent transfer of authority, piece by piece by piece, from one branch of Government to another."

Russ Vought bills CFPB $5M for his security detail The expense comes as CFPB's budget is slashed nearly in half.

Russ Vought is simultaneously stopping CFPB from protecting American consumers from scams, while also charging it $5 million for his security team
www.govexec.com/management/2...

This could be useful for way too many purposes

Tax them, make them pay good wages and offer benefits, and get their money out of politics.