Skip to main content

President Donald Trump Selects New Labor Secretary Nominee


Late Thursday evening, President Donald Trump tweeted out that he would nominate Eugene Scalia to fill the vacant Labor Secretary position, following Alexander Acosta’s abrupt resignation earlier this month.

Scalia, a partner at the Washington office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, heads into what is expected to be a contentious confirmation before the Senate.  Democrats have already started to make their opposition known, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticizing the pick as putting “corporate interests over those of worker rights.”  (Scalia does have prior experience representing employers, such as WalMart.)  With two 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, sitting on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions that will hold initial confirmation hearings in the coming weeks, I would expect there to be a rash of media attention around the matter.

As well, as some may have heard, Scalia is the son of former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, which is sure to draw more eyes to the confirmation.  With that being said, with Republicans maintaining majority control of the Senate, so long as they vote along party lines, Scalia should be confirmed.  In the interim, until Scalia (or another nominee is confirmed), acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella will remain at the head of the agency.


For additional information:  https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-to-nominate-gene-scalia-son-of-late-supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-for-secretary-of-labor

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more