DOL nominees—and department—stalled

Another Biden nominee to lead an important Department of Labor (DOL) agency has been blocked by Congress. On Wednesday, June 8, the U.S. Senate failed to confirm Lisa Gomez to serve as head of the Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the federal agency charged to oversee the nation’s pension laws.

By means of a last-minute procedural maneuver, Gomez may squeak through with a vice-presidential vote, but her stumbling nomination follows the failed effort to win Senate approval for David Weil as head of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The division still has no new nominee for the lead post.

Despite administration claims to the contrary, both failed nominations have slowed the aggressive agency activity many had predicted would be a hallmark of the Biden administration. Faced with a split Senate, many expected a more focused and forceful use of Executive power to achieve the Democrats’ social policy goals. Yet, except for the hard-charging National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agencies have been impeded by staunch Republican opposition, skeptical courts, and controversial policy decisions.

ESG a target

Gomez, for example, was compelled to defend departmental policy statements on the role of cryptocurrency and ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) as approved pension assets, which preceded her nomination. Her own position on the appropriate role of climate change in assessing long-term investments cost her Senator Lisa Murkowski’s vote, although the Alaska Senate Republican had voted for her nomination in committee.