Here’s why Joe Biden’s nominee for Labor Secretary may be in serious trouble

It is likely to only take one Democratic Senate opponent to sink Julie Su’s nomination as U.S. labor secretary. And at least two Democratic senators won’t say they’re backing her.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, said Tuesday he was “very ambivalent” about confirming the former top California labor department official. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, said “no comment” when asked if he’d support Su.

Both senators are up for re-election next year in states President Donald Trump easily won in 2016 and 2020.

Democrats now control 51 of the Senate’s 100 seats. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is battling health issues and has not voted since mid-February. It’s unclear when she’ll return.

With all 49 Republicans expected to oppose Su, it would take only one Democratic defection to deny her confirmation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee plans a hearing on the nomination Thursday.

But first, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, will hold a hearing in his Workforce Protections Subcommittee Wednesday that will in part examine Su’s impact on California and, potentially, on the nation.

He’s not sympathetic.

“My aim is to show what’s in store for the country if California’s disastrous policies are nationalized and (Gov. Gavin) Newsom’s acolyte Julie Su is elevated,” Kiley wrote on his blog.

Tester said wants to wait for Thursday’s confirmation hearing before commenting further.

He plans to meet with Su immediately after the hearing.

“I’m very ambivalent. I voted for her before. I don’t have any problem with her right now. We’ll see how things go,” he said.

Labor supports, GOP opposes

The Su nomination has become mired in a classic Washington pressure campaign. The AFL-CIO and Asian American activists are pushing hard for her confirmation. Business interests and conservative Republicans tend to be opposed.

The AFL-CIO’s website features as its top item a petition urging people to voice their support for Su.

“Julie Su has made a career out of representing not only workers,” it says, “but the most vulnerable workers in America.”

Asian American members of Congress are pleased that she would become one of the few Asian Americans to have run a Cabinet department. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Santa Monica, a member of the House Democratic leadership team, called her a “fearless advocate for the rights of workers and good paying jobs across our economy.”

Su was a highly-regarded worker rights attorney before entering government service. In July 2021, she became the deputy U.S. labor secretary, confirmed on a party-line vote. Tester and Manchin voted to confirm her.

When Secretary Marty Walsh left the top job last month, Su became acting secretary.

At the Labor Department, she has been its chief operating officer, helping to implement union-friendly policies. Among the department’s tasks are running job training programs, enforcing wage and hour laws, and managing unemployment programs.

Su and controversy

Su faces two controversies.

In California, her department was in charge of the state unemployment system when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an enormous spike in jobless claims. Su was Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

The agency’s Employment Development Department was deluged with claims, and at the same time had to manage new federal unemployment programs.

EDD struggled, as insufficient staff and balky technology left it often unable to promptly handle phone calls and requests for service. The unemployment program became riddled with scams that by some estimates have cost the federal government $30 billion in fraudulent claims.

Su is also being criticized by many business interests and Republicans for her championing of the 3-year-old California law that reclassified many independent workers as employees. The law gave them the right to minimum wages, worker’s compensation and other benefits.

Republicans claim that she would push similar changes nationally, though with a House controlled by the GOP that would be nearly impossible.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the top Republican on the Senate labor committee, said that in California, Su “removed the flexibility of individuals to work as independent contractors.” He called her record “troubling.”

Such concerns make Su’s confirmation uncertain. As Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., a labor committee member, said, he and other Democrats thought Su was “great.”

But, he added, “I’m not sure we have 50.”