Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su’s nomination to the top job appears to be in jeopardy as some Senate Democrats facing tough reelection fights next year mull voting with a united GOP conference against her confirmation.
President Joe Biden nominated Su in February to replace outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who left his post to lead the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Her nomination has been met with heavy criticism from Senate Republicans based on her time leading California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency during the pandemic. On Su’s watch, the state fulfilled between $20 billion and $32 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims, and roughly 5 million Californians saw their benefits payments severely delayed.
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The GOP conference has stood united in opposition to Su’s nomination, meaning Senate Democrats can only afford one defection in her confirmation vote.
“I think it’s going to take some work,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that will vote on Su’s nomination, told the Hill of getting her confirmed. “It’s sort of what they used to say about the NFL — on any given Sunday.”
Democrats currently control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, meaning that a single absence could give Republicans an opportunity to block Biden’s nominees and legislative efforts. The fluctuating makeup of the Senate in recent months, caused by several absences from members of both parties, complicated Democrats’ ability to push certain priorities through the chamber and underscored just how tenuous their majority is.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) will return to work on April 17 when the current recess ends after a six-week hospital stay for in-patient depression treatment that kept him from the chamber. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has been absent due to medical troubles since March, and her team has yet to say if she will be back at work when the Senate reconvenes later this month. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) was forced to miss votes when he traveled home after his mother died in late February, while Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) was absent for just under two weeks that month when he underwent surgery for prostate cancer.
On the GOP side, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was missing for most of March after suffering a fall that resulted in a two-week rehab stay. He is expected to return to the Senate after the recess, though that has not been confirmed.
The changing number of present senators is one of two major factors that have Su’s nomination as labor secretary on the rocks.
Su barely survived her confirmation vote for the deputy secretary post in 2021, only being approved by a three-vote margin on party lines. While Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Jon Tester (D-MT), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Angus King (I-ME) voted to confirm Su to the deputy post, none of the five have gotten behind her nomination to the top job.
Asked about his 2021 vote for Su, Manchin told reporters last week that his support was based on his confidence in Walsh.
“My vote for her last time was all predicated on Marty,” he said before noting that he wanted someone like Walsh to replace him in the role. “I had Marty Walsh and I am looking for a Marty Walsh.”
Manchin told Bloomberg Law last week that he would not make a decision on Su’s nomination before her April 20 confirmation hearing, saying, “I haven’t gotten into that yet; I’m waiting till her hearing’s over. There’s concerns, I’m sure.”
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King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told the outlet he has a meeting scheduled with Su where he expects to address policy issues related to independent contractors and the joint employer standard.
“They’re things I’m concerned about,” King said of her nomination.
