President Joe Biden probably thought his nomination of Julie Su as his next secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor would be a double-win.
She’s strongly pro-union and would also be his first Asian American cabinet member.
In short, another diversity hire.
However, a number of issues have cropped up regarding her tenure as California’s labor secretary. Plus, Biden’s other diversity hires haven’t been very impressive.
Su’s nomination was advanced out of committee April 26 on a party-line vote, two months after her Feb. 28 nomination.
But after nearly three months, her name still hasn’t come up on the Senate floor for confirmation.
National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix told Newsmax that it means only one thing — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lacks the votes to confirm her.
"When he thinks he has the votes he will do it," he said.
"There are now four or five Democrats I think who are struggling with this particular nomination," he added, and then checked them off:
"You’ve got [Sens. Mark] Kelly from Arizona, [Kyrsten] Sinema from Arizona. You’ve got [John] Tester from Montana, [Joe] Manchin from West Virginia, and Angus King from Maine who I don’t think, at least at this point, the last I checked, hasn’t committed one way or another either."
And the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Manchin announced he was now a definite no, so her confirmation "moves closer to defeat."
The White House has been using her alleged role in hammering out a settlement, while she California’s labor chief, as evidence that she would work fairly to broker future labor disputes.
Said Mix, "they thought because she got involved in the port contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and allegedly got an agreement, which we have not seen yet, and there’s no final bargaining unit there yet.
"They were trying to pump up her bona fides that Su was somehow this great negotiator."
However, even if that agreement is firmed up and proves good to both parties, there are other factors working against Su, including her silence on the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize Act), which was reintroduced in late February, after being proposed and ultimately rejected every year since 2020.
The PRO Act is strongly pro-union, and would actually take rights away from frontline workers by forcing them into joining unions and paying dues, whether they want to or not, running counter to right-to-work laws.
“I have not seen a specific quote from [Su] on [the PRO Act], but I think it was [Democratic Sen.] Catherine Cortez Masto out in Nevada who supported Julie Su and said she’s “a fierce supporter for unions.”
From that it’s a safe bet that Su supports the proposal.
More troubling is Su’s support for California’s Assembly Bill 5.
“No one can get over her seven-year stint as labor secretary in California, and particularly the AB5 legislation, redefining independent contractors as employees,” Mix said.
Employers didn’t like it because it forced them to take on millions of free-lancers as employees. Free lancers were also troubled because it removed their freedom to work when and where they liked, and forced many into union membership.
Ultimately AB5 resulted in more than 1 million jobs lost in the state.
Although AB5 is limited to California, Mix observed that "the Department of Labor is going to issue a rule about how you define independent contractors and employees. That’s coming in October, I believe, so keep your eye on that ball."
Su also wrongfully paid huge sums in relief money to criminals, scammers, and fraudsters.
Said Mix, "They estimate between thirty to forty billion dollars in fraud in the unemployment comp system in California under her watch."
In addition, Biden’s other diversity hires haven’t fared much better, including:
- Sam Brinton, the first non-binary senior administration official, who repeatedly stole women’s luggage at airports while on government business
- Pete Buttigieg, the first gay transportation secretary, who can’t keep the trains running, or even on their tracks
- Rachel Levine, the first transgender senior administration official, who supports the dangerous practice of transitioning children
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, as the first black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, will rule on women’s rights, but can’t define the word “woman”
- Kamala Harris, Biden’s first diversity pick, as the first black female vice president, is a train wreck every time she speaks
In short, Biden has turned John F. Kennedy’s standard of "the best and the brightest" into "The Little Shop of Horrors," and the public is footing the bill.
And in particular, if the Senate confirms Su, it may only lead to more federal waste and abuse, and reduce the rights of American workers.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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