Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) provided the margin of victory for progressive California Democrat Julie Su, President Joe Biden’s pick to be Labor Secretary, and she did it behind closed doors.
Su, who is serving as acting Labor Secretary due to the lack of support in the U.S. Senate, was voted out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee in a party-line, 11-10 vote. Without Hassan’s support, the nomination would have stalled in committee.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), the ranking Republican on the committee, cried foul over the Democrats’ decision to skip a public hearing and hold the vote in a closed-door committee hearing. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is chair of the HELP Committee.
“The Chair’s decision to not hold a public hearing on Ms. Su is unacceptable and shows a lack of transparency from the Majority,” Cassidy said. “It undermines the Committee’s constitutional duty to advise and consent on presidential nominees.”
Su lacks the votes among Democrats needed to get her nomination through the full U.S. Senate, but Sanders remains a strong supporter. “Her strong pro-worker track record and tireless dedication to working families across this country shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is the right person for the job.”
Sanders argued that, since Su has already had public hearings and is the acting Labor Secretary, no further discussion was required and a closed-door vote was acceptable.
Hassan, who also voted for Su when her nomination came before the HELP Committee last year, has declined to respond to repeated requests for comment about Biden’s nominee. She did not mention Tuesday’s vote on her official website or on her social media. Nor did she comment about the unusual circumstance of holding the vote without a public hearing and in a closed-door committee session.
“Since Julie Su’s first nomination hearing, the concerns over her leadership of DOL have only grown,” Cassidy said. “Ms. Su has continued to build a troubling record as Acting DOL Secretary, implementing policies that promote large labor unions at the expense of workers and economic growth. The HELP Committee should have been able to address these issues directly with Ms. Su to properly conduct its constitutional duty to oversee the president’s nominees. It is unacceptable that the HELP Chair denied committee members this opportunity.”
Su had a controversial tenure as California’s Secretary of Labor before Biden tapped her to be part of his administration.
In an op ed for NHJournal, Tom Manzo of the California Business and Industrial Alliance pointed out several policy positions he claimed hurt workers and small businesses. In particular, Su supports restricting the so-called “gig economy,” forcing private contractors to work as full-time employees.
“Su has also supported California Assembly Bill 5, which attempted to reclassify independent contractors as W-2 employees, making it impossible for independent contractors to function successfully in the state,” Manzo wrote. “Su’s support for anti-worker, anti-business policies is just the beginning, and Americans are right to be concerned she will bring these harmful policies to the rest of the nation.”
He was right. The Biden administration has announced new federal labor rules forcing companies to reclassify some freelancers as employees. Interestingly, this move was so unpopular in deep-blue California that the Newsom administration issued a list of exceptions to the law Su spearheaded. In 2020, California voters passed an initiative exempting many gig workers from the statute.
The Chamber of Progress, a trade group that represents tech companies, is worried the federal version of the law could impact an estimated 3.4 million gig workers, resulting in $31 billion in lost income.
