Trump to appoint Fed and BLS leaders amid economic data and policy shifts

U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to make two key appointments in the coming days, signaling a potential shift in the leadership of the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These moves are expected to influence both financial markets and the reliability of core economic data. The vacancies were created after the sudden resignation of Federal Reserve Board Member Adriana Kugler and the firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer [3].

Kugler’s resignation, which took effect on August 8, came earlier than expected and left an opening on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the body responsible for setting U.S. interest rates. Kugler, who joined the Fed in 2023, had largely aligned with Chair Jerome Powell, a frequent critic of the president. Trump, however, has made it clear that future Fed nominees should support his preference for rate cuts. Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha suggested that the vacancy might be used to move closer to replacing Powell, with potential candidates including former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent [5].

The BLS vacancy, meanwhile, resulted from McEntarfer’s dismissal, which followed the release of a weak July nonfarm payrolls report—just 73,000 new jobs were added, with significant downward revisions for the prior two months. Trump blamed her for “the biggest calculation errors of the last 50 years,” though experts note that data revisions are common and often due to declining survey response rates. The BLS had already revised downward its total employment figures by 818,000 jobs for the 12 months ending in March 2024 [3].

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, emphasized the importance of reliable labor data for market positioning, suggesting that a fresh leadership approach was necessary. Yet the firing sparked concerns about the potential politicization of the BLS, an agency expected to remain impartial and technical. JPMorgan Chase Chief Economist Michael Feroli warned that while the Fed’s politicization has been widely discussed, the same risk in data collection processes could be equally damaging [5].

The timing of these appointments, occurring in the early months of Trump’s second term, indicates a strategy to align key federal institutions with his economic priorities. These include a skeptical approach to traditional economic indicators and a focus on deregulation. Market participants are watching closely to see how the new appointees might affect investor sentiment and the broader economic outlook. The ultimate impact will depend on the nominees’ records and the evolving economic landscape [3].

Sources:

[1] title1.............................(https://en.bitcoinsistemi.com/donald-trump-to-make-two-critical-appointments-in-the-next-few-days-could-affect-markets-here-are-the-details/)

[3] title3.............................(https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-says-hell-name-bls-153525205.html)

[5] title5.............................(https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-money/2025/08/04/fallout-from-trumps-bls-shake-up-00491553)

[6] title6.............................(https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu)