Democrat Senator Joe Manchin may be preparing to derail President Joe Biden’s plans to nominate Julie Su to the labor secretary position to replace the resigned Marty Walsh, according to The Western Journal. This will not be the first time the West Virginian politician nukes one of the president’s appointments.
Manchin has reportedly expressed his doubts about Su, which could result in her failing to be confirmed in the Senate. Along with Kyrsten Sinema and Jon Tester, the senators are trying to distance themselves from the president as his approval rating continues to sink in national polls. Biden is reportedly down 8 points across all ratings.
Su is in the middle of a battle between labor unions and corporate interests, Axios writes. She only won by a narrow margin when she was confirmed as deputy to the former labor secretary and faces stiff opposition from Republicans who are targeting her time leading California’s state commission when criminals stole $30 billion in unemployment benefits.
The nomination comes as the Biden administration is facing affirmative action pressure to appoint an Asian to the position. But Manchin is not budging. He previously refused to vote for Biden’s Office of Management and Budget pick in 2021. One argument against Su is that she once fought to have gig workers in California treated as full-time workers, drawing the ire of small businesses and big tech.
Manchin did vote in favor of Su as deputy but explained that that was when Walsh was leading her. Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders has voiced his support for Su as the two have met during her rounds through Capitol Hill but she was not his first choice, according to NBC News.
He initially showed support for Sara Nelson, the President of the Association of Flight Attendants, or Robert Reich, the former labor secretary for Clinton and the far-left commentator notable on Twitter for his defense of Democrats.
