Biden Advances Su's Nomination as Labor Secretary
Julie Su could replace Marty Walsh, who is leaving the post this month to become the head of the National Hockey League’s players’ union.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday officially sent Julie Su’s nomination as the new Labor Secretary to the Senate.
Su, who currently serves as Deputy Labor Secretary, would replace Marty Walsh, who is leaving his post this month as Labor Secretary to become the head of the National Hockey League’s players’ union.
Walsh said on March 1, after Biden announced his intent to nominate Su, that as Deputy Secretary, “Julie’s achievements — prioritizing rights and protections for the most vulnerable workers; driving our equity work; attracting diverse, world-class talent into public service; modernizing workforce development and unemployment insurance systems; and deepening our engagement with state and local governments — have been broad and deep.”
Su, Walsh explained, “is a lifelong champion of America’s workers, and I have the utmost confidence in her ability to sustain the work of the department and advance the President’s vision of an economy that puts workers first and leaves no one behind.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, expressed a very different view of Su late Tuesday in a statement: Su “has a troubling record and is currently overseeing the Department of Labor’s development of anti-worker regulations that will dismantle the gig economy. This does not inspire confidence in her ability to hold her current position, let alone be promoted,” he said.
The HELP Committee, Cassidy added, “should have a full and thorough hearing process to evaluate” Su’s nomination.
Cassidy previously voted against her nomination as deputy secretary.
As the former head of California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Su led “the implementation of [Assembly Bill] 5 that removed the flexibility of individuals to work as independent contractors,” he explained.
“AB 5 is so flawed, that California voters supported Prop 22 by a vote of nearly 59 percent to provide an exemption for rideshare drivers. A legal challenge to Prop 22 currently awaits a court opinion in California,” Cassidy added.
The Labor Department is expected to finalize its independent contractor rule in May, he said.
“If finalized, the new regulation would make it difficult for individuals who wish to keep flexibility in how, when and where they choose to work,” Cassidy stated.