(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Monday nominated E.J. Antoni to be the new commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that collects and publishes data about jobs and inflation, after firing the previous commissioner, whom he accused without evidence of rigging jobs data.

“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Highly Respected Economist, Dr. E.J. Antoni, as the next Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

In recent years, Antoni has served as an economist at two conservative think tanks: previously at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and currently at the Heritage Foundation. He has been an outspoken critic of BLS and its approach to data collection in the past.

During an August 1 appearance on Trump ally Steve Ban

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