Senate Panel Advances Biden’s Labor Secretary Nominee Julie Su

Julie Su, President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of labor, speaks at the White House in Washington on March 1, 2023. (White House/Screenshot via NTD)

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) on April 26 advanced President Joe Biden’s pick to head up the Department of Labor.

The nominee, Julie Su, is currently serving as acting secretary of labor. Su served as the deputy secretary under former Secretary Marty Walsh before he resigned to take over as head of the National Hockey League Players’ Association in March.

The HELP panel advanced Su’s nomination in an 11–10 vote along party lines. But the nominee will face tough hurdles to be approved for the post by the full Senate.

Su previously worked with the California Department of Labor, and centrists from both parties have expressed reservations about placing Su in command of the Labor Department.

Key Democrat and Democrat-adjacent swing-voters like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Angus King (I-Maine), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) have yet to announce their support for the nominee. Manchin, Sinema, and Tester are each facing reelection bids in 2024 in moderate and red states.

Nominee Oversaw $31 Billion in Fraud

Many concerns about Su involve widespread fraud that occurred under her watch at the California Employment Development Department (EDD). While she headed the department, over $31 billion in COVID-19 unemployment funds were fraudulently dispersed to California residents.

In a case demonstrating how widespread the problem was, a rapper called Nuke Bizzle was arrested after admitting in a rap video that he had defrauded the California government of $300,000 in COVID relief funds.

“I done got rich off of EDD” is one line in the song.

“The rapper was not held accountable due to Ms. Su’s oversight, but because he publicly admitted to his crime on a rap video,” Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said during a hearing on Su’s nomination.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a Republican who often votes with Democrats, also criticized the nominee’s track record in California.

“The fact that under your lead, unemployment insurance payments in California of some $31 billion went to people who were basically receiving money on a criminal basis, illegally receiving money from the federal government,” Romney said. “That’s about as much as we provided in military aid to Ukraine. That’s almost twice the total budget of the Department of Labor.”

“Under your leadership in California, $31 billion was fraudulently paid out,” Romney reiterated.

Romney also cited Su’s lack of experience in negotiating labor deals.

“In this case, your record is so severely lacking that I don’t know how in the world it makes sense for the president to nominate you to take over this department,” he said.

Anti-Gig Economy Bill

Critics have also expressed concerns about a bill targeting the gig economy that Su supported and enforced in California.

Cassidy cited Su’s administration of the effort to “dismantle the gig economy in California,” targeting services like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash as part of the reason for his opposition to the candidate.

These services employ people as independent contractors, meaning they work on an independent basis and are not subject to the same protections or privileges as workers who are classified as employees. Supporters of the platforms say that they provide an easy way for people to make money on the side, while their opponents accuse them of exploiting their workers.

Notably, none of these platforms have yet achieved profitability.

The bill in question, California Assembly Bill 5, required the application of an “ABC test” to determine whether workers in California were employees or independent contractors.

Su supported and helped carry out the policy, which closed off the gig economy to many, during her time as California Secretary of Labor.

Later, California lawmakers had to pass over 100 exemptions to the law—a legislative list longer than the original bill itself, Cassidy noted.

Cassidy said the measure, which Su supported, stripped independent contractors of their right to do work they were willing and able to perform.

Nevertheless, Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed that criticisms of Su have “nothing to do with her qualifications.”

“No one can tell us with a straight face that Ms. Su is unqualified for this position,” Sanders said. “In fact, she’s extremely well-qualified.”

“This debate really has everything to do with the fact that Julie Su is a champion of the working class of this country who will stand up against the forces of corporate greed,” he said. “That’s really what this debate is about.”

Sanders added, “Julie Su should be confirmed as the Secretary of Labor because she spent her life fighting for those working families and they need her now.” He also noted that Su has the support of “every single labor organization in this country.”

Though she is now one step closer to confirmation, the fate of this controversial Biden nominee remains up in the air.