Labor nominee Julie Su defends record as key Senate Democrats remain undecided

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) haven’t said how they’d vote. Business interests concerned about Su’s pro-labor stances are running ads in those senators’ home states pressuring them to vote against her nomination.

Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee made similar attacks on Su’s record Thursday, pointing to unemployment fraud in California under Su’s watch and her involvement with a controversial state law that reclassified independent contractors as employees. 

Su pitched herself as a consensus-builder focused on boosting apprenticeship programs and opportunities for small businesses. Su frequently referenced her work alongside former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who received significant Republican support for his confirmation and has endorsed Su. 

“I have been a leader dedicated to finding and expanding the vast areas of common ground between employers and employees,” Su told senators. 

Su, whose mother immigrated to the U.S. from China on a cargo ship, would be President Biden’s first Asian American cabinet secretary.

Sanders blasts corporate opposition 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee’s chairman, kicked off the hearing by criticizing business interests that are running ads pressuring senators to reject Su’s nomination. He said that Su’s nomination would be a no-brainer without business opposition. 

“The debate over Ms. Su really has nothing to do with her qualifications,” Sanders said. “This debate, really, has everything to do with the fact that Julie Su is a champion of the working class of this country who will stand up against the forces of corporate greed.” 

A series of ad campaigns are pressuring swing-vote Democrats to oppose Su.

Franchisers and gig companies are raising concerns about her support for California laws that they said undermined contractors and threatened their business models. They’re worried about how Su would approach a key Biden administration proposal to reclassify contractors at the federal level. 

Flex, a trade association representing app-based companies such as Uber and Lyft, said that Su didn’t “sufficiently address” its concerns during the hearing. 

“We continue to be deeply concerned with Julie Su’s objectivity, particularly given her record in California of undercutting independent work — with real impacts on families and communities,” Flex CEO Kristin Sharp said in a statement. 

Democrats on the committee largely threw their support behind Su on Thursday. The senators being targeted by business interests, who all voted to confirm Su as deputy labor secretary, don’t serve on the HELP committee. 

The AFL-CIO is launching its own six-figure ad campaign backing Su, signaling her importance to the labor movement. The country’s largest labor federation is also targeting the Democratic holdouts in their home states. 

“This is the time for them to show who they stand with. Is it workers or is it big corporations?” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told reporters Wednesday. 

Republicans paint Su as incompetent 

Republicans focused on rampant fraud in California’s unemployment system during Su’s tenure as California Labor secretary at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Under your leadership in California, $31 billion was fraudulently paid out,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Su. “In this case, your record there is so severely lacking. I don’t know how in the world it makes sense for the president to nominate you to take over this department.”

The California Business and Industrial Alliance is airing TV ads in D.C. and Montana highlighting the fraudulent payments, warning that Su “could import California’s failed policies to Washington, D.C.”

Democrats on the committee argued that unemployment fraud was widespread during the period of pandemic-era expanded federal benefits. Sanders noted that several states run by GOP governors had a higher rate of unemployment fraud than California at the time. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told Su he’s concerned about business opposition to her nomination. GOP senators accused Su of being biased against corporations and too closely aligned with labor unions throughout the hearing. 

Su insisted that she met with corporate interests throughout her tenure as deputy Labor secretary, not just labor unions. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the committee’s ranking member, sought to distance Su from Walsh, stating that Walsh worked with all parties and had “significant experience in negotiations and managing organizations.” 

“With 150 labor contracts expiring this year, the potential of replacing him with someone who has a history of bias and no direct experience handling labor disputes should be concerning to everyone,” Cassidy said. 

Cassidy questioned whether Su would pursue a more aggressive joint-employer rule that is backed by unions and fiercely opposed by franchisers. Su responded that the proposal isn’t a priority for her department. 

Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.