While she's hardly the first Biden nominee to fail in achieving enough support to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su's nomination was finally sent back to the president's desk this week, 281 days after Biden put her forward to helm the Department of Labor.
According to U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), a leading voice opposing her nomination and confirmation, Su — who previously served as California's Secretary of Labor might not have been able to make it into Biden's cabinet but she does hold the record for "the longest a cabinet-level nominee has waited without a floor vote when the same party controls the White House and the Senate."
It's official. We have defeated Julie Su's nomination for Secretary of Labor. The Senate has "returned" her nomination to the White House without a vote.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) December 22, 2023
Su's failed nomination lasted 281 days, setting a new record. She faced bipartisan opposition because of her disastrous… pic.twitter.com/F0KCYf7OTg
"During her tenure as Acting Labor Secretary, Su refused to answer whether AB 5 was a good law, even though she championed and aggressively enforced the law during her tenure in California," Kiley reminded in a statement. "President Biden knows Julie Su will never be confirmed, and if Ms. Su remains in power as an unconfirmed Acting Secretary, every action of the Labor Department is under a legal cloud," he warned. "It is high past time for President Biden to withdraw this failed nomination and choose a qualified Secretary who will perform his or her duties competently and will be on the side of American workers."
As our friends at RedState noted: "There's no lipstick that will dress up this pig: it is a staggering failure for the Biden White House, and especially for Julie Su, although by this point, Su should be used to it. In typical Biden Administration fashion, Su tried to gaslight and took a victory lap" that was "[t]otally on-brand."
Due to Su's record-setting failure to receive a floor vote — which she was all but certain to fail — Biden will need to either renominate her in the new year or, if he ever wants to have a confirmed Secretary of Labor, pick someone new who can actually win enough support of the Senate to be confirmed.
