President Donald Trump on Tuesday withdrew Heritage Foundation economist Dr. E.J. Antoni's nomination to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), not giving a reason for the decision.

Economists were worried about Antoni's nomination because of his previous harsh criticism of the BLS and the belief that data under his leadership would not be reliable.

The Heritage Foundation responded to the withdrawal by supporting Antoni and stating that he would remain the foundation's chief economist.

“Dr. E.J. Antoni continues to be one of the sharpest economic minds in the country," Heritage President Kevin Roberts said in the statement. "E.J.’s immense capabilities and insightful economic analysis have not changed—and we are very proud to have him on our team.

Reform needed

“It is undeniable that BLS needs reform and E.J. was the right man for the job," Roberts continued. "E.J. will keep calling for that reform and serving the interests of the American people from his invaluable role as chief economist at Heritage.”

Trump had recently fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after she sharply revised May and June's job numbers to be weaker than first reported.

The numbers for those two months were revised downward by 250,000, the largest number since 1979 other than during the pandemic.

Trump accused McEntarfer of rigging the numbers to make Republicans look bad.

"The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP,'" the president posted around the time of the firing on his social media channels.

Are tariffs to blame?

Critics of the Trump tariffs blamed the uncertainty on them, but other indicators have not seemed to say that tariffs are having much of an impact.

The August job number was even weaker than the earlier ones, with only 22,000 jobs added.

It is hoped that the recent Federal Reserve rate cut and the planned cuts coming in future months will boost hiring by encouraging borrowing by businesses.

Meanwhile, there is no nominee to head the BLS, at least for now.