Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), a member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, requested that President Joe Biden’s labor secretary pick, Julie Su, appear before the committee before June to prevent “undue delay” that would prevent the panel “from conducting its oversight work.”
In a letter dated April 18, Foxx, who is also the chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, reminded Su that as the acting secretary of labor, she has an “obligation to be accountable” to the committee as it conducts “needed oversight on federal departments and high-ranking officials.”
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“As Chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am conducting needed oversight on federal departments and high-ranking officials,” Foxx wrote. “In so doing, I am holding hearings with agency heads in a timely and expeditious manner. The purpose of this letter is to remind you — as the acting head of the Department of Labor and as the President’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Labor — of your obligation to be accountable and to invite you to appear before the Committee.”
She wrote that the acting secretary’s apparent intention to appear before the committee no later than the summer was “unacceptable” and shows she is more concerned with preserving her image than doing well at the job.
“Despite offering dates that provided you with between nearly one month and nearly two months to prepare, we understand that you do not plan to make yourself available to the Committee before June — nearly halfway through the First Session of the 118th Congress,” she continued. “This is unacceptable, and it is an undue delay preventing the Committee from conducting its oversight work. Furthermore, it suggests that you are more concerned about protecting your record and your prospects as a nominee than fulfilling your obligation to respond to oversight and be accountable.”
Foxx took a harsh tone throughout the letter, describing the Biden Department of Labor’s record as “destructive” and in “critical” need of oversight.
“[The department] has pursued a destructive agenda that stifled economic growth with more regulations and red tape, produced fewer results for workers and employers, and ballooned costs at the expense of the American taxpayer. [The department] has also been unresponsive to the committee’s oversight requests. It is critical for Committee Members to question you about this alarming record,” she added.
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Foxx characterized the Biden Labor Department’s regulatory agenda as “harmful to workers and their families.” The new date given for a hearing with the committee is May 17.
Su faces a tough confirmation hearing for labor secretary; her appointment to the position depends on two centrist Democrats and one independent: Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). Her support for regulatory measures opposed by the tech and business industries could lose her the support of the three, with Manchin already expressing private concerns.
