Spicy Senate fight

President Trump has added an unsolicited, high-profile confirmation fight to the Senate's plate when they're back from August recess.

Why it matters: With a 140+ person backlog on civilian confirmations, Senate Republicans left Washington vowing to fast-track the rules.

• Senate GOP leaders told senators to be ready to move as soon as they return to D.C. in September, sources familiar tell us.
• Senators have suggested everything from shorter debate time to allowing more nominees to be voted on en bloc.

🌶 But the newest nominee's a doozy: Trump said yesterday he'll nominate Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics after he fired Erika McEntarfer.

• Antoni is already sparking concern by suggesting suspending BLS's monthly jobs report.
• Economists left and right are panning his qualifications.

Zoom in: Antoni's confirmation process will first have to go through the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee which is chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.)

• Cassidy called McEntarfer's removal "understandable," and he had previously demanded answers as to why BLS's jobs reports were inaccurate. He's also up for re-election next year.
• But HELP includes frequent Trump critics: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Me.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
• "BLS's years-long failure to produce reliable data — especially when that data has broad market-moving implications — is unacceptable," a Cassidy spokesperson told Axios. "Cassidy looks forward to meeting with Dr. Antoni to discuss how he will accomplish this."

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— Stef Kight