Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Lobbying for Labor Secretary Job
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Former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is lobbying to join the Biden administration to succeed outgoing Labor Secretary Martin Walsh, according to a new report.
De Blasio’s lobbying effort began after Walsh announced Tuesday that he is resigning to head the National Hockey League Players Association, the New York Post reported Friday.
“The mayor has had his eye on the Biden administration for a long time and now he sees an opening and he’s making his case for labor secretary to the White House,” a source with close ties to the White House told the Post.
“He’s calling friends in the Biden administration to help make his case and push his candidacy,” the source added.
The labor secretary’s job is to ensure “the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.”
De Blasio has repeatedly tried to move into new political positions, but his attempts so far have been unsuccessful.
In September 2019, de Blasio withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination due to lackluster public support. Over three-quarters of New Yorkers at the time thought de Blasio entering the race was a bad idea, with the former mayor boasting only a 33 percent favorability rating, according to one poll.
Two years later, de Blasio ran for a vacant congressional seat in New York. Of the more than a dozen candidates polled, only three percent of likely voters backed the former mayor, placing de Blasio at the very bottom of the list.
“I’ve really listened carefully to people and it’s clear to me that when it comes to this congressional district, people are looking for another option. And I respect that,” de Blasio announced in a video statement posted to Twitter. He has most recently been a visiting fellow at Harvard University.
Former New York congressman Sean Patrick Maloney is also believed to be vying for the labor secretary position. In November, Maloney lost his congressional seat to Republican Mike Lawler in an upset. Maloney was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the time.
