President Joe Biden touted Julie Su for secretary of labor during a Wednesday morning speech, saying she’s the best candidate to replace Marty Walsh.
Biden is poised to nominate Su, who serves as Walsh’s deputy, after Walsh announced he would be stepping down next month to join the National Hockey League Players’ Association.
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“It’s my honor to nominate Julie Su to be our next secretary of labor,” Biden said. “And I’ve asked the United States Senate to move this nomination quickly so we can continue the progress of building an economy that works for everyone.”
Before joining the Biden administration, Su served as California’s labor commissioner and then as the secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, where she oversaw the rollout of California’s gig work law.
If approved, Su would become the first Asian American to hold a secretary-level position in Biden’s Cabinet.
Su was born to Chinese immigrants in Wisconsin, Biden noted, with her mother working a union job and her father owning a small business.
“Julie is the American dream,” Biden said. “More importantly, she’s committed to making sure that dream is within the reach of every American.”
She topped a list of several names floated for the gig in the weeks since Walsh announced his departure.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had pushed for former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) to be nominated, prompting pushback from some Democrats who called the proposal “divisive.”
Sara Nelson, the head of the Association of Flight Attendants, generated some buzz along with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
Su spoke as well, saying that her mother’s union job helped her successfully move into the middle class and that she’d fight for similar opportunities as labor secretary.
“To all workers who are toiling in the shadows, to workers organizing for power and respect in the workplace, know that we see you,” she said. “We stand with you and we will fight for you.”
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Su’s nomination elicited criticism from some Senate Republicans, with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, calling her voting record “troubling.”
“Deputy Secretary 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 in a statement. “The HELP Committee should have a full and thorough hearing process to evaluate Julie Su’s nomination.”
