Julie Su’s nomination as Labor secretary survived the first step. But what’s next?

Julie Su survived her first Senate test Wednesday, but the next step in her quest to become Secretary of Labor remains highly uncertain.

The former California Secretary of the Labor and Workforce Agency’s nomination was approved by a party-line 11-10 vote by the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.

The vote means Su’s fate is now up to the full Senate, and the outcome of that vote remains unpredictable.

Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, and Independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who caucuses with Democrats, have not said whether they’re supporting Su. Each faces re-election next year in states where Republicans have done well in recent years.

“I hope so. We’ll see,” said Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, Ind.-Vt., when asked if Su has the votes for confirmation.

There’s no firm schedule for a Su Senate floor vote. The leadership will schedule it when it’s confident it has the 50 votes needed for confirmation.

Democrats control 51 votes, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has been home in San Francisco and not voting. There’s no word on when she may return.

As a result, with all 49 Republicans expected to vote no, Democrats can afford to lose only one vote.

Tester met with Su Tuesday and said he’s not leaning either way.

He said they covered several topics. Asked if anything bothered him, Tester said “no but I want to find out if there’s anything she said that bothered my staff.”

Su’s opponents were adamant Wednesday they’ll be fighting hard to deny her the job.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. the committee’s top Republican, said there were “serious concerns about Miss Su’s ability to manage an agency.”

He cited controversy in the California unemployment system, which Su oversaw as it was overwhelmed by claims and balky technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Su’s supporters have said that California’s chaos was no different than what other states experienced, and that she took strong steps to make the department operate more efficiently.

Tester was asked by The Bee if Su’s California experience bothered him.

“I’m always concerned anytime there’s fraud,” he said. Of the claim that other states had similar experience, Tester said, “I’ve never heard about it in Montana.”

As the committee deliberated, voices outside the hearing room kept up the fight against her confirmation.

“During the pandemic, Julie Su and her Employment Development Department (EDD) became the national poster child for government failure,” wrote House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, in an op-ed for Fox News. Kiley has led the congressional battle against Su.

“Given her abysmal track record in California,” they wrote, “it’s clear that a promotion to the nation’s top labor office would be a disservice to the American people.”

Democrats continued to warmly praise Su.

“I think Julie Su currently and in her role in California and throughout her life has made it clear she’s prepared to stand up for working families,” Sanders said.