President Biden and Julie Su during a March 1 White House event for the nomination of Su to serve as secretary of labor. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post
President Biden’s nomination of Julie Su for Labor Department secretary is at risk of failing, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Even as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled to take the first step toward her confirmation to head the Labor Department on April 20, Su faces a tough road. Sen. Joe Manchin III, D.-W.Va., has expressed strong concerns to the White House about her, according to the person familiar, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. If one more Democrat votes against her, or even misses the vote, there would not be enough support for her to be confirmed. Axios first reported the endangered nomination.
The business community, including the International Franchise Association, has lobbied against her, saying her policies have hurt small businesses and franchises.
It’s also unclear whether Su would obtain the support of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., according to labor groups and other Democratic senators who back Su. Sinema has not said how she would vote and her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Emilie R. Simons, a White House spokesperson, said the Biden administration is working with a broad coalition of supporters toward a successful nomination for Su.
A former Biden administration official said Manchin’s hesitation on Su’s nomination probably had more to do with appealing to constituents in West Virginia than any specific qualm on how she would lead.
Manchin has typically been little involved with the Labor Department, aside from its mining safety regulatory division, which has close ties to his West Virginia constituents.
Currently the Labor Department’s deputy secretary, Su emerged as a favorite of unions and the Democratic Party establishment after Marty Walsh announced he was headed to lead the National Hockey League’s players’ union. Walsh said Su is ready for the job.
“We worked together collectively as a team. Everything we did, we did jointly,” former labor secretary Walsh told The Washington Post of Su. “Julie is more qualified than I was because of her previous role. I support her wholeheartedly.”
Su also served as labor secretary in California for seven years, where she earned a reputation as an advocate for immigrants and low-wage workers facing wage theft and other workplace exploitation. She also helped design a law that addressed the classification of workers as independent contractors but received pushback from Uber, Lyft and other tech companies.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will consider Su’s nomination in a hearing on April 20, originally supported flight attendant union President Sara Nelson’s nomination for the role. He has since rallied behind Su.
“I am confident Julie Su will be an excellent Secretary of Labor,” Sanders said in a statement Thursday. “I look forward to working with her to protect workers’ rights and build the trade union movement in this country.”
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