Biden to renominate Julie Su for labor secretary despite GOP opposition

Julie Su will be renominated for secretary of labor, the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner, after the Senate returned her and other nominations before departing for the Christmas recess.

Su has been serving as acting labor secretary since last March, and President Joe Biden has been trying to get her confirmed ever since.

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The White House, which has to resubmit nominations the Senate did not approve in the calendar year, will send papers to the Senate on Jan. 3, followed by renomination papers on Jan. 8.

Biden needs only a simple majority in the Senate to get Su confirmed, but with Republicans and some centrist Democrats opposed, he has used a loophole to keep her on indefinitely.

“Upon Secretary Walsh’s departure, acting Secretary Su automatically became acting secretary under its organic statute, not under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,” a White House official said in July. “As a result, Su is not subject to the time limits of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and she can serve as acting secretary indefinitely.”

That didn’t sit well with Republicans, who vowed to fight her continued acting status and threatened lawsuits over any actions she took.

But Democrats have embraced Su during the confirmation saga, which is now in its 10th month.

Vice President Kamala Harris in August refused to use the term “acting” to describe Su, despite her lack of Senate approval.

“And I just have to tell you — I’ll call her labor secretary. I’m not going to say the word ‘acting,’” Harris said when introducing Su at a speech in Philadelphia Union Hall.

The Su controversy also includes a bill dropped by a pair of GOP lawmakers that would thwart Biden’s efforts to keep her on indefinitely.

“With this latest affront to the Constitution, American businesses may have no choice but to challenge Julie Su’s status at the Department of Labor,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said of the bill. “The Department of Labor Succession Act seeks to resolve the significant constitutional issues with the existing statute and put America’s elected officials back in their proper role.”

Su is the longest-serving Cabinet nominee in more than 130 years in a situation where the same party controls the White House and the Senate. Former President Donald Trump himself was widely criticized for keeping Cabinet members on in acting roles in order to circumvent the Senate.

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Opposition from centrist figures such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stems from Su’s tenure at California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. She drew controversy for pushing the state’s AB 5 legislation that attempted to restrict independent contracting. The Department of Labor is considering a similar rule at the federal level.

Christian Datoc contributed to this report.