Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su has not been confirmed as Labor Secretary due to the lack of votes in the Senate. Which is great, because she has some serious issues with her policies. But now, the Biden Administration has added her to the formal line of succession to the Presidency. Republicans are fairly shouting ‘you can’t do that!’
The 1947 Presidential Line of Succession Act clearly spells out who is next after the Vice President in a national emergency…but all of the persons in that line of succession are supposed to be confirmed by the Senate. Su has not been confirmed and lacks about 3 votes from the goal line. The Biden administration has decided to just leave her as Acting Secretary. Like the football issue 4th down and 3, she hasn’t made it to the goal.
The line of succession is as follows from the 1947 Act:
- Vice President
- Speaker of the House
- President Pro Tempore of the Senate
- Secretary of State
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Secretary of Defense
- Attorney General
- Secretary of the Interior
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Secretary of Commerce
- Secretary of Labor
- Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Secretary of Transportation
- Secretary of Energy
- Secretary of Education
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Secretary of Homeland Security
The Labor Secretary does not have the time constraint that some of the other nominations have -hence, the Biden administration just gave up on getting confirmation and left her in the acting role. She seems to be an enforcer of rules that can play a part in causing problems for workers. Congressional Republicans have requested an answer from the Government on whether she has the authority to enact rules in her current position.
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In another sign of the changing posture of the administration, the Labor Department is expected to soon release several rules that had been pending.
Su’s unconfirmed status has downsides. Because she is currently deputy, the department appears unlikely to be able to fill that role with another person. Acting officials are also often viewed as lacking the gravitas of having successfully gone through Senate confirmation. Former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who has lobbied Sinema, Manchin and others on Su’s behalf, pushed back on that idea.
“However long Julie Su is the acting secretary or secretary, she’s going to put her mark on the job,” he said. “I don’t think the word ‘acting’ is any part of it.” Politico July 2023
Julie Su is from California and has a record of enforcing labor laws, particularly in the left-wing state. She was instrumental in passing AB 5, the law that devastated the gig industry- leaving truck drivers forced to be classified as employees and devastated businesses from being able to rely on them. The California legislature passed a change to the bill which exempted gig employees, but that she was for it in the first place was a serious downside.
Other Su critics have seized on time running California’s labor department during the pandemic. The state fund shelled out more than $11 billion in fake unemployment claims, a record Su blamed on a broken system she inherited.
Finally, Su was instrumental in averting a rail strike in December. The imposed labor agreement forced 115,000 rail workers to accept a contract with zero sick leave or right to strike. Time March 2023
Fast forward to October 2023, as the Biden administration placed her in the line of succession to be President. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution also requires all in the line to be confirmed by the Senate. Republicans are not happy, but the left is overjoyed. However, bending the Constitution for their own purposes is not sitting well with Republicans.
“As Ms. Su has failed to be ‘appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate’ as Secretary of Labor, we strongly urge the White House to clarify its position and views regarding Ms. Su’s eligibility for the presidential line of succession and, in the event it was to become necessary, to assume the presidency. It is unimaginable to think that this Administration believes someone who has neither been duly elected nor confirmed by the Senate to the position of Secretary of Labor could be President of the United States. Suggesting that Ms. Su is eligible to be in the presidential line of succession is antithetical to our system of governance and the bedrock principles on which our Republic rests…While you and your Administration have clearly decided to ignore congressional intent in keeping Ms. Su in place in her current role, it would be unfortunate if you have decided to further discount congressional intent — and violate the law — by taking the position that Ms. Su is eligible for placement in the presidential line of succession.” Republican letter to Biden
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Related:
- Bidenomics Fail: Labor Department Revises Growth Numbers Downward
- Labor Day 2023: Transitioning Back To Work
- Labor Strike Threats Return: Almost As if It Is Scripted
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