The Left is waging a war on independent workers.

Almost 65 million Americans take part in the independent workforce. Independent workers control their own destinies – working when, where, and how they want. Half of independent workers are women. Half are millennials or Gen Z . Most report that working independently is their own choice, as only 10% work independently because they cannot find a traditional job. Eighty-four percent are happier working on their own, 67% feel more secure working independently, and 80% say that working on their own is better for their health.

Yet these statistics are never reflected in the Left’s claims about independent contracting. Instead, the Left claims independent contractors are intrinsically exploited, deprived of wages , benefits, legal protections, and social insurance. And they seek to make it difficult, almost impossible, for a worker to be so classified, regardless of what the worker wants.

California is a major battlefront in this war, and President Joe Biden’s labor secretary nominee, Julie Su, was a field marshal.

California’s AB5, which Su helped orchestrate, was the opening shot. The law enacted a highly restrictive set of rules designed to make it impossible to qualify for independent contractor status.

And yet, even in California, these restrictive rules failed or were found to be impractical. The bill at first exempted about 40 industries from its restrictive test, subjecting them instead to special rules.

But that wasn’t enough. After AB5’s passage, state lawmakers had to enact another law granting special rules for another 26 categories of workers.

That still wasn’t enough! In November 2020, California’s voters adopted Proposition 22 by a 59% margin to protect the independent contractor status of app-based drivers.

It’s fair to say that any rule that requires this many exceptions and special rules is a failure. But even so, AB5 has devastated California’s independent workforce. And President Joe Biden’s nominee for labor secretary, Julie Su, was a primary hatchet woman in this enterprise.

Critics of Su’s appointment have rightly pointed out that Su is likely being brought on to help the Biden administration make its own changes to independent contracting — changes the administration recently proposed. But during her confirmation hearing earlier this month, Su insisted that these regulatory changes regarding the federal independent contractor test are different from California’s AB5. Only Congress could impose AB5-like rules, she said.

I would like to be comforted by Su’s assurance, but I am not since the Labor Department does not appear to be following its current independent contractor regulations. The DOL’s misclassification website points us to its “Fact Sheet #13,” which includes a six-factor test that was struck down in March 2022, when a federal court held that the Biden administration’s attempt to withdraw a Trump administration rule empowering independent contractors was illegal.

Moreover, the Labor Department’s proposed new rules regarding independent contracting provide plenty of room for Su to impose AB5 on us all by fiat, without legislation or notice to the public. The DOL proposes to adopt a six-factor balancing test, slightly different from Fact Sheet #13, to determine independent contractor status. But the new rules note that “these six factors are not exhaustive,” “additional factors may be relevant,” and “the weight to give each factor depend on the facts and circumstances of a particular case.”

In other words, as proposed, the DOL can consider (or refuse to consider) any fact and define independent contracting however it so chooses. Su is a good lawyer, a graduate of Harvard Law School, no less. It would be more than easy for her to direct DOL investigators and lawyers to consider only the factors in California’s AB5 test as legitimate and to require that those factors be met. Most businesses will be forced to comply since they do not have the resources to challenge the results of a DOL investigation.

The independent workforce is the right choice for millions of workers. Choosing the freedom and flexibility of independent work over the control that employers must exercise is a rational choice. I cannot believe that 65 million workers are somehow too dumb to understand they are not covered by employment laws or that they were bamboozled or forced into working independently.

As Labor Secretary, Su will have the power to kill the independent workforce. The Senate must reject her confirmation.

Tammy McCutchen served as the Wage & Hour Administrator at the Labor Department under President George W. Bush.