I'd say Brian Tyler Cohen has a pretty reasonable take on Mike Johnson's healthcare endgame.

[pat_k]

12. 47 hasn't been able to install a minion.

You may of course be correct, that nothing that comes out of BLS can be trusted, but so far, trump hasn't been able to install a minion. Here's what a NY Times article back in August had so say:

Experts on government statistics say data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other agencies is unlikely to deteriorate dramatically overnight. The acting commissioner named to replace Dr. McEntarfer on a temporary basis, William J. Wiatrowski, is a longtime employee of the agency who is widely respected by experts inside and outside government. The career employees who collect and analyze the data remain in place, using the same methods and procedures they used before Dr. McEntarfer was pushed out.

Since that time, it appears that BLS has not been subjected to any further reductions in force beyond the DOGE global cuts, so career analysts remain in place. My guess is that the report on Sept which was ready to release before the shutdown, was accurate, which is why 47 suppressed it. I could be wrong, but with the agency not yet taken over by corrupt 47 leadership, i would expect reports to remain reliable until such time as 47 manages to push through a minion to utterly corrupt things.

BTW: The number of nominees who have recently been withdrawn is as sign of the cracks that are starting. As trump's numbers keep dropping on everything he is doing, Republicans in congress are getting nervous. He may not be as successful going forward in utterly corrupting agency's he has not already corrupted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/business/trump-bls-firing-economic-reports.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w08.u3ZI.S7aXzgdjDV0l&smid=url-share