John,
Labor Day is a holiday born of struggle. Workers fought for fair pay, safer conditions, and the dignity of knowing their labor built this country. Yesterday, we honored their victories. Today, Donald Trump is working to erase them.
As workers marched and protested in incredible numbers, from San Francisco to Houston, Trump was already moving to silence them by pushing forward with a scheme to control the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump fired the independent commissioner one day after a disappointing jobs report and is seeking to replace her with E.J. Antoni, a right-wing Heritage Foundation operative and Project 2025 insider.[1]
It’s clear that when the facts don’t flatter Trump, he will fire the truth-tellers and install loyalists. If he can capture the Bureau of Labor Statistics, he can bury those facts and force the public to live inside his propaganda bubble. It has always been one of the few places workers, communities, and policymakers could turn for honest numbers about jobs and wages. That independence is now under threat. Antoni has already floated cutting back job reports and restricting what data is released.
If Trump gets his way, the nation’s most trusted source of employment data will become just another propaganda shop. Bad news about wages and layoffs will disappear. Economic pain will be hidden. Workers will lose one of the last reliable tools they have to fight for fairness in the economy.
Working families cannot afford another rigged Trump scheme designed to hide the truth and protect his wealthy donors. Tell the Senate to reject Trump’s nominee for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Trump’s entire economic agenda is built on lies. He tells workers he is on their side while cutting taxes for billionaires, slashing services for working people, and undermining unions. Now he wants to seize control of the one agency that reports whether wages are growing or shrinking. If Antoni takes over, workers will no longer get the real story about their own livelihoods.
If the government’s numbers cannot be trusted, the entire public conversation about jobs, inflation, and wages becomes a propaganda exercise. The American people will be forced to rely on Trump’s spin instead of independent facts. That is exactly how authoritarian regimes consolidate power.
Corporate lobbyists and billionaire donors are cheering this nomination. They know that if the truth is buried, they can keep rigging the economy without scrutiny. They want a Bureau of Labor Statistics that reports whatever makes the wealthy look good, while working families lose their voice in the debate over economic fairness.
We need senators to stand for democracy, for transparency, and for every worker who relies on real facts about jobs and wages. Without resistance, Trump will succeed in replacing data with propaganda, and working people will pay the price.
Demand the Senate reject Trump’s nominee for the BLS. The truth about jobs and wages is on the line, and we must stop Trump from turning facts into propaganda.
Together, we can stop Trump’s attack on the truth and defend the rights of every worker.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after the release of weak jobs report
