Trump Fires Top Jobs Official, Citing “Wrong Numbers” Amid Economic Slowdown
President Donald Trump on Friday fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Erika McEntarfer, after the agency released a grim jobs report showing a rise in unemployment and a decline in new job creation. The president baselessly accused the non-partisan official of manipulating the data.
The move came as the stock market tumbled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 2.9 percent for the week—its worst performance since the president announced his new tariff regime in April. When asked why he dismissed McEntarfer, Trump stated, “Because I think her numbers were wrong, just like I thought her numbers were wrong before the election.” He provided no evidence for his claims that McEntarfer had also rigged jobs data to favor Kamala Harris before the 2024 election. In fact, the final jobs report before that election was weaker than the most recent one.
The firing drew sharp criticism and raised alarms about the politicization of federal statistical agencies. William Beach, who served as BLS commissioner during Trump’s first term, called the dismissal a “dangerous precedent” that undermines the bureau’s mission, describing McEntarfer as “a very fine analyst.” Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) remarked that “it’s not the statistician’s fault if the numbers are accurate and that they’re not what the president had hoped for.” McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate in January 2024 with a bipartisan vote of 86-8.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers described the president’s action as “way beyond anything that Richard Nixon ever did.” He added, “This is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism. Firing statisticians goes with threatening the heads of newspapers… this is really scary stuff.”
Summers argued that the weak jobs report, which included downward revisions for the previous two months, indicates the economy is “closer to stall speed than we thought,” increasing the risk of a recession. He attributed the slowdown not only to the direct effects of new tariffs on nearly 70 countries but also to the “sense of uncertainty that anything could happen.” He also dismissed Trump’s attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as an attempt to “set up a scapegoat if the economy performs badly.”
Humanitarian Crisis Worsens in Gaza as Famine Spreads
As the war in Gaza continues, a devastating hunger crisis is ravaging the territory, with the United Nations reporting a rise in starvation-related deaths. The Hamas-run health ministry stated that at least 175 people, including 93 children, have now died from famine and malnutrition.
Despite huge stockpiles of food and medicine waiting at the border, distribution within Gaza remains fraught with challenges. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claim aid agencies are not distributing supplies fast enough, while the UN and other groups cite active conflict, damaged roads, and the need for Israeli authorities to grant safe passage.
Avril Benoît, CEO of Doctors Without Borders USA, described the situation as catastrophic. “People are starving. People are desperate,” she said, detailing how malnourishment is complicating recoveries from trauma injuries and leading to a spike in premature births. Benoît criticized current aid delivery methods, such as airdrops and distributions from a U.S.-backed pier, as inefficient and dangerous, often resulting in injuries and deaths from shootings and trampling. “What we need is to flood the zone with as much food as possible,” she stated, emphasizing that a “permanent, lasting ceasefire” is the only way to deliver aid safely and effectively.
Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff visited the region and met with families of Israeli hostages, telling them, “We have a plan to end the war and bring everyone home.” According to audio of the meeting, Witkoff claimed Hamas had agreed to demilitarize, a statement that contradicts the group’s public position.
Texas Republicans Push Controversial Redistricting Plan
In Texas, Republicans advanced a plan Saturday to redraw the state’s congressional maps in a rare mid-decade move designed to shift five seats to the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The proposal, which Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett called a “Trump map,” has sparked an outcry from Democrats who accuse the White House of attempting to rig future elections.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder, now Chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, labeled the effort an “authoritarian move” to ensure a compliant Congress. In response, he suggested Democrats may need to “fight fire with fire” by pursuing their own partisan gerrymanders in states they control. “I think that a Democratic response that is responsible, that is responsive, and that is temporary, is appropriate given these facts,” Holder said, while also noting that his organization will continue its legal challenges against the Texas maps.
Investigation Finds Higher Property Taxes in Non-White Neighborhoods
A new ABC News investigation has found that homeowners in majority non-white neighborhoods across the country face disproportionately high property tax bills. The analysis revealed a nationwide pattern of “highballed” tax assessments that can lead to residents losing their homes.
The report highlights the story of Bonita Anderson, a 70-year-old Baltimore resident who lost her home after it was sold at auction over a $5,000 tax debt. In her 97% Black neighborhood, the typical tax bill is significantly higher than in a nearby majority-white area where homes are valued at 50 percent more. In Baltimore, 92 percent of properties listed at tax sales between 2019 and 2023 were in majority non-white neighborhoods.
Experts warn that as the federal budget is cut, local governments may rely more heavily on property taxes, potentially exacerbating these inequities. While a 2023 Supreme Court ruling barred local governments from profiting from tax sales, the underlying issue of unfair assessments persists.
80 Years After Hiroshima, a New History Recalls the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended World War II and ushered in the nuclear age. Historian Garrett Graff, author of the new book “The Devil Reached Toward the Sky,” has compiled an oral history of the Manhattan Project from hundreds of first-person accounts.
The project, initially a race against Nazi Germany, involved over 100,000 workers in secret cities like Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Hanford, Washington, many of whom were unaware of their work’s ultimate purpose. Graff’s work chronicles the complex reactions of those involved, from the scientists who felt the bomb was necessary to end the war to those who were horrified by its destructive power.
Graff’s book uses searing testimonies from Japanese survivors to illustrate that nuclear weapons are “not like any other weapon in the human arsenal” but are “community- and civilization-destroying.” He stressed the importance of carrying forward the mission of the survivors: “to ensure that they are the final victims in human civilization of a nuclear weapon.”
