Dive Brief:
- President Joe Biden renominated Julie Su as labor secretary Monday, after her nomination last year stalled in the Senate.
- Su assumed the role of acting labor secretary last March, after former Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh stepped down to become executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association.
- Under Su’s leadership as acting head, the department has worked on rules regarding H-2A visas and illegal child labor.
Dive Insight:
Biden first nominated Su to become the head of the department in late February, saying Su “has spent her life fighting to make sure that everyone has a fair shot, that no community is overlooked and that no worker is left behind.”
Su’s nomination has failed to make it through the U.S. Senate for 10 months, met largely by opposition from Republican lawmakers and business interest groups. In May, Sens. Bill Cassidy and Ted Budd sent a letter claiming the department under Su’s leadership displayed “bias against American farmers” after a senior official made comments “deriding the H-2A visa program.”
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, chairman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, said in a statement Monday that it’s “beyond belief” Biden renominated “his failed nominee.”
“The Senate rejected Julie Su as Labor Secretary on a bipartisan basis last year because of her gross mismanagement and anti-worker agenda,” said Kiley, a California Republican.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, released a statement Monday in support of Su’s renomination and urged colleagues to support her nomination.
“Her strong pro-worker track record as Acting Secretary shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is the right person for the job,” Sanders said.
Sarah Zimmerman contributed to this story.
