Ayanna Pressley did not mince words this week when she called out President Donald Trump for firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics — a move she said revealed more about his politics than his governance. “He fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he didn’t like the statistics,” Pressley said flatly in response to a question about the turmoil at the agency. “And the story they were telling was one of failure — failure to deliver on his promise to lower costs for the American people.”
Pressley Says Trump Is Obscuring The Data
The decision to abruptly remove Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, came on the heels of a weak jobs report and has raised alarm across Washington. Pressley says this is a part of a broader pattern of an administration that wants to control not just the narrative but the numbers themselves. “I don’t put anything past Donald Trump and wanting to obscure data,” she said. “But what I would say is we need that data. That which gets measured gets done.”
300,000 Black Women Are No Longer In The Labor Force
Pressley’s comments came against the backdrop of troubling labor force statistics. According to the most recent BLS data, roughly 300,000 Black women have exited the labor force. Economists point to the pressures of rising costs, caregiving burdens, and ongoing inequities in hiring and pay as factors, but for Pressley, the data is more than numbers. It is a warning flare. “We’re calling on Chairman Powell and the Fed by September 30th to analyze the data and to come up with a meaningful plan of action,” she said.
Urgent and Historic
The Massachusetts congresswoman framed the moment as both urgent and historic. The Federal Reserve, she noted, has a statutory mandate to pursue maximum employment for everyone, not just the already advantaged. In her view, that mandate is meaningless if large swaths of the workforce — particularly Black women — are being left behind in silence. “We’re asking them to address the five-alarm fire that is underway for Black women, Black families, and Black futures,” she said.
Will the BLS Remain Autonomous?
This chart, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, illusrrates job growth by year in the United States, Florida and the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Service Area.
The controversy over the firing of the BLS commissioner has ignited a wider debate about the independence of government data agencies. For decades, institutions like the Bureau of Labor Statistics have been trusted to provide a neutral accounting of the economy. That independence has been rattled before, but rarely so openly challenged. By firing a commissioner over the story the data told, Trump has invited charges that he is more interested in shaping reality than measuring it.
We Need Reliable Data
From left, School superintendent Thea Stovell , Pressley and Randolph planning director Michelle Tyler.Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley meets with Randolph town officials on Thursday June 3, 2021 Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger 060321 Gd Ran Pressley02 Jpg
Pressley’s response makes it clear she sees the danger in that approach. Without reliable data, accountability disappears. Without accountability, so does progress. “We need the data for transparency, for accountability,” she said. “And if anything, the reality could be worse than what we’re being told.” She’s saying that the firing isn’t just a personnel decision but a part of a larger attempt to weaken the very infrastructure of democracy. The numbers matter because they tell a story — who is working, who is struggling, who is being left behind. Strip those numbers of their integrity, and the people most at risk lose their visibility.
