DOL fills the C-Suite, bench strength coming

On July 14, Julie Su and Seema Nanda were confirmed by the Senate to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor and Solicitor of Labor, respectively. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh finally has his principal deputies in place to carry out his (and President Joe Biden’s) agenda.

Both nominations met stiff Republican opposition based on the overtly prolabor advocacy of both nominees. Su and Nanda provide the DOL with two skilled, experienced regulators and administrators, which may galvanize a department that has been criticized for inactivity and bureaucratic ineptitude.

Su, the former California labor secretary who was short-listed for the DOL Secretary’s job, has a strong policy background but has a checkered history as an administrator, growing from the billions of dollars paid out last year in fraudulent jobless benefits payments on her watch. This had also made her a somewhat controversial choice for deputy secretary because the position has traditionally served as the COO of the department with less involvement in formulating policy.