Julie Su, the Biden administration’s labor secretary nominee, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee on Thursday, where she attempted to make the case for her confirmation as she was grilled by Republicans over her record.
The Democratic majority on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which held Thursday’s hearing, appeared largely supportive of Su’s nomination. But she has not yet secured the support of other key Democrats in the Senate – suggesting she could face an uphill battle to confirmation when the full chamber casts its vote.
If confirmed, Su would be the Biden administration’s first ever Asian-American Cabinet secretary, leading the Department of Labor amid a time of broad economic concerns but low national unemployment. If Su does not convince enough senators to get on board with her nomination, she would be the highest-ranking nominee yet to fail among a recent string of candidates brought forward by the Biden administration who have failed to move through the confirmation process.
Su, who joined the administration in 2021 as the deputy secretary of labor, has long faced scrutiny for California’s handling of unemployment benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic – particularly her oversight of the state’s Employment Development Department. During the pandemic, the department delayed approving unemployment benefits and paid out billions on fraudulent claims. Su has said EDD’s systems were not prepared for the number of unemployment claims made and on Thursday, she told the panel that she made changes to the program to prevent further fraud within the system.
Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney asserted that Su “chose to waive” guidelines that led to $31 billion in fraud. But Su argued that California’s auditor never found that her decision to waive eligibility requirements resulted in any…
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