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For Immediate Release
August, 12 2025, 11:37am EDT
Contact:
Phone: (202) 775-8810
Trump wants to hide the consequences of his bad policies by manipulating BLS data—it won’t work
Yesterday, Trump announced that he will nominate E.J. Antoni as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Antoni has repeatedly and unfairly attacked the agency he’d be set to run, contributed to the right-wing Project 2025 policy blueprint, and in his role at the Heritage Foundation has stretched the truth about the economy to make partisan political claims. This comes after Trump fired the former BLS commissioner after the monthly jobs numbers released in early August showed a sharp slowdown in the pace of U.S. job growth. Trump’s announcement makes it clear that he expects the BLS commissioner to only release data that shows the economy is booming—even if it means the data must be manipulated or changed by political appointees. This move is undemocratic—and economically dangerous.
BLS is one of the most respected statistical agencies in the world, known for its methodological rigor, independence, and transparency. It has long produced reliable economic data that are a crucial input to economic decisions across the country. The economy runs on reliable data. Businesses use these numbers to decide whether to hire or expand. The Federal Reserve uses them to decide when and how much to change interest rates. State and local governments use them to plan budgets. Trump’s attempt to politicize BLS means that policymakers and the public wouldn’t be able to trust the data. If this happens, confidence in U.S. data will collapse and reasonable economic decision-making will be impossible. This manufactured chaos will reduce business investment and consumer spending, making a recession—and soaring unemployment—far more likely in coming months. Between illegal firings of public servants, starving data agencies of needed resources, and now political intimidation, the U.S. looks set to run into the next economic downturn flying blind. The cost of this incompetence will be felt by working people first.
EPI is an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States. EPI's research helps policymakers, opinion leaders, advocates, journalists, and the public understand the bread-and-butter issues affecting ordinary Americans.
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White House to Vet Smithsonian Exhibits to Ensure They 'Align With Trump's Interpretation' of US History'
Smithsonian exhibits should be "accurate, patriotic, and enlightening—ensuring they remain places of learning, wonder, and national pride for generations to come," the White House demanded.
Aug 12, 2025
The Wall Street Journal reports on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's White House is keeping an eye on the Smithsonian Museum to ensure that its exhibits on display for the United States' 250th anniversary "align with" the president's personal "interpretation of American history."
According to the Journal, the administration this week sent a letter to the Smithsonian announcing it was seeking what the paper describes as a "far-reaching review" of its "museum exhibitions, materials and operations" that will include everything from "public-facing exhibition text and online content to internal curatorial processes, exhibition planning, the use of collections and artist grants."
The goal of the review is to ensure the materials comply with an executive order Trump signed earlier this year that called for "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History."
The letter obtained by the Journal was signed by White House senior associate Lindsey Halligan, and it instructed the museum that its exhibits should be "accurate, patriotic, and enlightening—ensuring they remain places of learning, wonder, and national pride for generations to come."
In his original executive order, Trump accused the Smithsonian of having "come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” that promotes “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive," and he demanded a stop to the promotion of this "improper ideology."
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Smithsonian removed references to Trump's two impeachments from its exhibit on the history of presidential impeachments in the United States. The museum returned references to Trump's impeachments last week but removed mentions of the president making "repeated 'false statements' challenging the 2020 election results" that led to "imminent lawless action at the Capitol" by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
Instead, the label on Trump's second impeachment now reads as follows: "On January 13, 2021, Donald Trump became the first president to be impeached twice. The charge was incitement of insurrection based on his challenge of the 2020 election results and on his speech on January 6. Because Trump's term ended on January 20, he became the first former president tried by the Senate. He was acquitted on February 13, 2021."
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Inflation Spike Shows Trump Tariffs—as Predicted—Have 'Made the Problem Worse'
"Trump was handed a stable economy," said one economist. "I expected them to screw up either the labor market, prices, or growth. I didn't expect them to fumble all three."
Aug 12, 2025
Belying U.S. President Donald Trump's promise to "end inflation"—and his subsequent claim that he's "solved" it—new federal economic data released Tuesday showed increased inflation in July resulted from businesses in some sectors are passing the costs of Trump's tariffs on to consumers.
The consumer price index (CPI) figures, released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), measure the cost of staple goods across the economy and offer a detailed look at inflationary impacts in a variety of areas. The overall CPI rose 2.7% in July from year-ago levels, a similar increase from June. So-called "core" inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food, rose 3.1% in July, the highest level in five months.
While White House Council of Economic Advisers Stephen Miran claimed that July's CPI shows that there is "no evidence whatsoever" that Trump's trade war has spurred price increases, economic experts have repeatedly predicted the cost of tariffs would ultimately be passed to consumers.
Natalie Baker, director of economic analysis at the Center for American Progress, a public policy research and advocacy group, said in a statement that "the consistent upward trend in inflation is the latest sign that President Trump's reckless trade war and the resulting economic uncertainty are wreaking havoc on family budgets and the American economy."
"Combined with the lackluster jobs report and recent [gross domestic product] numbers, this is a clear warning sign that the president's policies are raising prices and squeezing consumers," Baker adeed. "It's a chilling reminder that the risk of stagflation is growing by the day."
The Democratic National Committee weighed in on the numbers, with communications director Rosemary Boeglin saying that "Donald Trump is steering the economy off a cliff, as core inflation rises to over 3%."
"Working families are already cutting back on basic necessities as Trump's billionaire-first agenda makes life more expensive," Boeglin continued. "While his budget explodes the deficit and enables the largest wealth transfer in history from the working and middle classes to the ultrawealthy, Trump's erratic trade war continues to accelerate inflation and jack up prices."
"While Trump profits off the presidency, hardworking Americans are struggling to get by with no end in sight," she added.
House Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) said in a statement: "Donald Trump was elected to bring down costs. Instead, he's made the problem worse."
"Trump's Big Ugly Law gives away trillions to billionaires, paid for by cutting healthcare for millions of Americans," Boyle added. "The American people simply can't afford the policies of Donald Trump and the GOP."
Mike Konczal—an economic adviser to former President Joe Biden who is now the senior director of policy and research at the progressive nonprofit Economic Security Project—called July's CPI "overall worse than I expected, with the background of government disinvestment and deportations weakening potential growth."
"Trump was handed a stable economy," Konzcal added. "I expected them to screw up either the labor market, prices, or growth. I didn't expect them to fumble all three."
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Sanders Cheers New DNC Push to Curb Dark Money in Democratic Presidential Primaries
"Billionaire-funded super PACs like AIPAC and crypto shouldn't be able to undermine democracy and determine Democratic candidates," said the senator. "This principle should apply to congressional primaries too."
Aug 12, 2025
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and the advocacy group he helped found applauded a new resolution from Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, revealed Tuesday, that aims to limit corporate and dark money spending in the party's next presidential primary.
CNN obtained a draft of the resolution that Martin plans to introduce at the DNC's August 25-27 meeting in Minneapolis. The outlet reported that it calls for creating a panel that would identify and study "real, enforceable steps the DNC can take to eliminate unlimited corporate and dark money in its 2028 presidential primary process."
The draft "does not explicitly mention" super political action committees, "and it's not clear whether it will ultimately restrict super PAC spending in party primaries," according to CNN. It also says that the "only way to solve for this problem in the long term is through congressional action, including a constitutional amendment" to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to corporate spending on elections.
Still, Sanders (I-Vt.)—who ran for president as a Democrat in 2016 and 2020—welcomed the proposal as progress, writing on social media Tuesday, "Congrats to the DNC for starting the process to ban Big Money from presidential primaries."
"Billionaire-funded super PACs like AIPAC and Crypto shouldn't be able to undermine democracy and determine Democratic candidates," he added, calling out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "This principle should apply to congressional primaries too."
Sanders and seven of his Democratic colleagues—Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Peter Welch (Vt.)—wrote to Martin and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) in June, urging them to curb the influence of rich donors and super PACs in party primaries.
Last year's federal elections were devastating for Democrats, who lost not only the White House but also both chambers of Congress. In the wake of that, Sanders said that "it should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working-class people would find that the working class has abandoned them."
"Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?" he wondered at the time. "Probably not."
While then-DNC Chair Jaime Harrison swiftly lashed out at Sanders in November, calling his critique "straight up BS," the forthcoming resolution is a sign that Martin may be listening to key progressives—as well as registered Democrats and Independent voters, who are frustrated with the party and want to see elected officials fight harder for working people.
Just before the February DNC election in which Martin was victorious, Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, the group that grew out of Sanders' first presidential campaign, declared that "this moment demands a Democratic Party that provides more than just reactive opposition to an administration bent on rigging our economic and political systems in favor of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals on Earth."
Geevarghese also stressed the need for "leaders who put the party's grassroots base ahead of the donor class" and reject corporate rule, and accused Democratic leadership of "failing disastrously to meet this urgent mandate."
On Tuesday, Geevarghese welcomed the reporting on Martin's proposal, saying that "for the last 15 years, the disgraceful Citizens United ruling has unleashed a flood of spending from dark money groups and corporate super PACs that has drowned out working people's voices and sidelined the progressive candidates our party needs to challenge the corrupt billionaire class."
"This resolution is a crucial step to ensure the Democratic presidential nominee is chosen by everyday people—not deep-pocketed donors and the special interests they serve," he added. "We urge every DNC member to rise to the moment, back this fight, and put power back where it belongs—in the hands of voters, not the billionaires."
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