Manchin Sinks Biden Labor Secretary Nominee

With Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-W.V.) announcement on Thursday that he opposes Joe Biden’s push to make the present interim acting director of the Labor Department, Julie Su, the permanent director, her confirmation is all but dead.

Wrote Manchin, “I have genuine concerns that Julie Su’s more progressive background prevents her from [leading the agency fairly] and for that reason I cannot support her nomination to serve as Secretary of Labor.”

Su’s confirmation has languished in the Senate for months, and the longer it stays in limbo the greater the chances that the Biden administration will be forced to give it up and toss her aside.

Su would be another of many far-left progressives touted by the Biden administration who have been booted, or have declined to continue with the process. That would include three judicial nominations, along with Gigi Sohn to the FCC, Neera Tanden to the OMB, David Chipman to the ATF, and Ed Gonzalez to ICE.

With Joe Manchin sporting a rating on The New American’s Freedom Index rating of just 27 out of 100, just how bad must Su’s record be for him to oppose her confirmation?

Consider that a group of business owners, freelancers (gig workers), those who work for tips, and franchisees have sponsored a group “Stand Against Su.” The group sums up its argument:

Thousands of workers have already suffered thanks to Su’s anti-business agenda.

First as Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and currently as the US Deputy Secretary of Labor, Su has sought to restrict, regulate, and eliminate worker independence at every opportunity.

And when millions of out-of-work Californians during the pandemic needed Su to protect them, she failed miserably — instead overseeing nearly $40 billion in fraudulent payments, including payments sent to death row criminals and deceased individuals.

Su pushed mightily for passage of the anti-gig Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) which attempted to classify gig workers such as Uber drivers and freelancers as W-2 employees, essentially “making it impossible for independent contractors to operate successfully in California.”

She supported California’s FAST Act, which would unionize restaurant workers and, worse than that, create a “Fast Food Council” that would “oversee” (i.e., dictate) minimum wages, hours, and working conditions at nearly every restaurant in the state. For starters, it would raise the minimum wage from $15 an hour to $22 an hour, with an escalation clause added in for future increases.

Su considers working for tips to be a “legacy of slavery” and a way for restaurant owners to get away with paying less than the minimum wage to those they employ.

She also believes that illegals working in the United States are suffering from “economic servitude” and are subject to “exploitation” by those who employ them.

She is an enemy of the private market, claiming publicly that “corporations are responsible for sweatshops” and even asking courts to declare some businesses a “public nuisance” because they have a “detrimental effect on the overall health of the community.”

So odious and offensive is Biden’s push for Su to become permanent head of the DOL that Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) sent a letter (co-signed by 31 fellow Republican senators) to Biden demanding that he withdraw her nomination:

In her capacity as the head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Ms. Su was the architect of a law that forced independent contractors in the state to reclassify themselves as W-2 employees, and she did not hesitate to express her willingness to enforce this law, threatening investigations and audits to the wage claim process for workers who did not comply.

If confirmed it is clear from her public statements that she would push to make California’s SB5 the law of the land, putting millions of gig workers out of business.

Within hours of Manchin’s announcement, the White House responded that its support for Su was “unwavering,” adding, “we hope Senator Manchin and Senator [Krysten] Sinema [who is wavering] reconsider their position.”

A White House official doubled down on Su’s confirmation:

President Biden and his team continue fighting for Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s confirmation — because she is highly-qualified, experienced, and has proven herself time and time again when it comes to delivering for America’s workers and our economy.

What she promises to deliver is too much even for far-left Senator Joe Manchin, whose move likely ends Biden’s effort to have Su confirmed.