Trump's push for executive control runs into a hurdle: economic independence

"Driving the news: On Tuesday night, the White House withdrew the nomination of E.J. Antoni to run the BLS. Both conservative and left-leaning economists had said he was unqualified. Plus, the Heritage economist was under a cloud after CNN reported that he was behind a social media account that posted conspiracy theories. Some Republican senators reportedly refused to meet with him, and his meetings with others had gone poorly."

"Zoom in: On Wednesday the Supreme Court temporarily blocked Trump's firing of Cook - saying she can remain in her role at the Federal Reserve until the justices hear oral arguments in the case over the White House ability to fire her. The Supreme Court signaled last spring that the Federal Reserve was the rare agency that required some independence from the executive branch, but didn't fully explain its reasoning."

"The big picture: The credibility of the economic statistics that BLS puts out - the jobs report, inflation data - depends on its independence from political control, says Aaron Sojourner, an economist who is part of the Friends of BLS, an advocacy group. "If it becomes a creature of the White House, it loses credibility and cannot fulfill its purpose." The Federal Reserve is also valued for its remove from political control - as all living former heads of the central bank recently attested."

The White House withdrew a nomination for the Bureau of Labor Statistics after widespread concerns about the candidate's qualifications, alleged involvement with conspiracy-linked social media, and poor reception from senators. The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the president's firing of a Federal Reserve official, allowing her to remain until oral arguments on executive removal powers. The Court previously indicated the Federal Reserve requires some independence from the executive branch. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve are valued for institutional independence, which underpins credibility in economic statistics and monetary policy.

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