Biden Advances Su's Nomination as Labor Secretary

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.