Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGerman Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil stresses the importance of maintaining independent institutions following Trump's controversial firing of the BLS head.
By Maria Martinez
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -State institutions should be independent and free from politics, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Monday when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"I consider this political approach to be wrong and believe that it is right for independent institutions to remain independent and for politics not to interfere," Klingbeil said.
Trump fired BLS head Erika McEntarfer on the heels of a market-shocking weak scorecard of the U.S. job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures.
Ahead of a meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Klingbeil said democracies are on the right path when they preserve the independence and strength of institutions.
"I can only tell you that my political style is not to launch such attacks on independent, neutral, and proven institutions, as is apparently happening here," Klingbeil said.
Klingbeil also said there was a lot to clarify about the European Union's trade deal with the United States, adding that the bloc had been too weak during the negotiations.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Editing by Matthias Williams and Helen Popper)
Klingbeil stated that political interference in independent institutions is wrong and emphasized the importance of maintaining their independence.
Trump fired McEntarfer following a disappointing report on the U.S. job market, accusing her of manipulating the figures without evidence.
Klingbeil mentioned that there is much to clarify about the EU's trade deal with the U.S. and criticized the bloc for being too weak during negotiations.
Klingbeil described his political style as one that does not attack independent and neutral institutions, contrasting it with the current political climate in the U.S.
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