In a statement on Twitter, Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) announced he will oppose President Biden’s nominee for secretary of labor, the current acting secretary Julie Su.
“I believe the person leading the U.S. Department of Labor should have the experience to collaboratively lead both labor and industry to forge compromises acceptable to both parties,” Manchin said. “While her credentials and qualifications are impressive, I have genuine concerns that Julie Su’s more progressive background prevents her from doing this and for that reason I cannot support her nomination to serve as Secretary of Labor.”
Su was the secretary of labor for the California state government from 2019 to 2021. Her tenure included support for and enforcement of A.B. 5, the California law restricting independent contracting. She also oversaw widespread fraud in California’s unemployment programs. Under her watch, an estimated $32.6 billion in benefits went to scammers while eligible recipients were put on waiting lists.
She left her post in California to become deputy secretary of labor in the Biden administration. She was narrowly confirmed to that post with zero Republican senators supporting her (Manchin voted for her nomination as deputy secretary). Since former secretary of labor Marty Walsh resigned in March, Su has been acting secretary.
Su has been framed as “pro-worker” in the press, but that really only means that she is pro-union, with strong backing from the major organized-labor groups. The trade group for nonunion independent truck drivers, for example, has opposed her nomination. (National Review editorialized against Su’s nomination on March 2.)
Manchin’s opposition, plus unanimous Republican opposition, means Su at most has 50 supporters in the Senate. If all of them vote, Vice President Kamala Harris could break a tie and still confirm her. But Democrats have had difficulty getting all their members to the floor for votes so far this Congress, given health concerns for John Fetterman (D., Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.). Additionally, Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.), and Jon Tester (D., Mont.) have not yet announced how they will vote, and each is up for reelection in 2024.
Su’s nomination has been languishing for months. She drew criticism from Republicans on the Senate committee overseeing her nomination for not meeting with them. That letter included moderate Republicans Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine). Su was also chastised by House Committee on Education and the Workforce chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.) for failing to comply with oversight requests in her current role as acting secretary.
In the event of Su’s nomination failing, Democrats are floating the idea of simply leaving her as acting secretary. “A 1946 law, amended in 1986, permits the deputy labor secretary, which Su served as under the previous head, to ‘perform the duties of the Secretary until a successor is appointed,'” reported NBC News earlier today. “The rule is unique to the Labor Department — many other federal job openings are governed by the Vacancies Act, which requires replacements for certain federal agencies within a time constraint of 210 days.” The fact that Democrats were floating that idea before Manchin’s announcement went public does not signal confidence that they will have the votes to confirm Su as secretary.