Overview

• President Trump dismissed Erika McEntarfer, the bipartisan-confirmed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing her of rigging July’s jobs report.
• He publicly demanded Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s resignation after Powell defied repeated calls to cut interest rates.
• Trump ordered nuclear submarines “to be positioned in the appropriate regions” in response to provocative comments by Russian official Dmitry Medvedev.
• Former BLS head William W. Beach described McEntarfer’s firing as groundless and warned that it sets a dangerous precedent for statistical independence.
• Observers warn that these moves threaten the credibility of federal data and undermine the autonomy of key economic and monetary institutions.