A nominee with controversial views
President Donald Trump has tapped Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS)—just days after firing former commissioner Erika McEntarfer over disappointing job reports. But it’s Antoni’s blunt comments about Social Security, not just his résumé, that have set off alarm bells.
Antoni has openly argued that Social Security should be “sunsetted”, calling it a government-run Ponzi scheme destined to collapse. “Eventually you need to sunset the programme,” he told KTRH’s Houston’s Morning News in December, claiming that future retirees cannot count on the programme as it stands today.
Why Social Security matters so much
For over 70 million Americans—retirees, survivors, and people with disabilities—Social Security is not an abstract policy debate. It’s the cheque that keeps the lights on and the fridge stocked. Politicians have long treated it as the “third rail” of U.S. politics: touch it and you risk political death.
The BLS, which Antoni would lead, isn’t responsible for paying benefits, but it plays a critical role. The agency produces inflation data—especially the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers—that determines the annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits. If you change how that data is calculated, you can directly affect how much money ends up in seniors’ pockets.
Antoni’s plan: A hard transition
Antoni says he doesn’t want to cut cheques for current retirees, but his proposal demands a painful price: a generation of workers who pay Social Security taxes without ever seeing benefits. His solution? Private retirement accounts for future workers.
“There’s plenty of money available to pay for folks who are already retired,” Antoni said. “But for people retiring 10, 20, 30 years from now… the programme won’t be viable.”
He frames the issue as basic math. Without a rapidly expanding workforce—something unlikely in today’s aging America—the system can’t keep running indefinitely. Critics counter that this view ignores decades of bipartisan efforts to shore up Social Security’s trust funds, which, while projected to face depletion by 2034, could be preserved with modest tax or benefit adjustments.
The political firestorm
Antoni’s nomination has split Washington along predictable lines. Supporters, including Trump himself, argue he’ll ensure “honest and accurate” economic data, restoring faith in government statistics. Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer echoed that message, saying Antoni would give Americans “fair and accurate economic data they can rely on.”
Democrats see something far darker. Rep. John B. Larson of Connecticut blasted the move, warning it puts “a yes-man determined to end Social Security” in charge of crucial inflation data. The Democratic National Committee accused Trump of stacking his administration with advisers openly plotting to dismantle America’s most popular safety-net programme.
Even some economists outside politics are wary. Jason Furman, a former Obama adviser and Harvard professor, called Antoni “completely unqualified” and an “extreme partisan”, a break from decades of nonpartisan leadership at the BLS.
What comes next?
The Senate must decide whether to confirm Antoni. If approved, he would oversee how inflation numbers are produced and published—numbers that directly affect how much Social Security benefits grow each year.
For now, millions of Americans are left wondering: Could the very agency that calculates their retirement raises be run by someone who wants the programme gone?
This fight isn’t just about one economist’s philosophy—it’s about whether Social Security, a promise made nearly a century ago, will endure or slowly be dismantled in plain sight.
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