News: The Cabinet waiting game continues

Monday, November 18, 2024

The Cabinet waiting game continues

Nov 18, 2024

QUICK FIX

GOING DOWN THE LIST: President-elect Donald Trump has raced to fill out his list of nominees for Cabinet positions in the week after his decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris.

While some of the names have generated angst in Washington — like former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general — odds are that Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department could be rather uncontroversial and face a relatively easier path to confirmation.

Even if the president-elect did nominate a pro-business figure who would undermine his efforts to appeal to working-class voters and unions on the campaign trail, they would encounter minimal resistance from Senate Republicans currently grappling with how to process Trump’s onslaught of other, more controversial nominees.

Here’s a quick refresher on a few names we’re keeping an eye on:

— Patrick Pizzella, mayor of Pinehurst, North Carolina, could return to lead Trump’s Labor Department. During Trump’s first term, he served at DOL as deputy labor secretary and acting labor secretary after Alex Acosta resigned in 2017.

— Former Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Keith Sonderling is rumored to be on Trump's shortlist to head up DOL after leaving the EEOC in August. Sonderling would perhaps be the president-elect’s least abrasive pick due to his work advising employers how to avoid discrimination through artificial intelligence during his time at the agency.

— Andrew Puzder, Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary during his first term , had his bid derailed by spousal abuse allegations. This time around, with Trump seeking to muscle several eye-popping nominees through the Senate, Puzder’s nomination might be an easier sell.

— Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) has also emerged as a potential nominee for DOL . He recently lost his reelection bid to Democratic state Sen. John Mannian, and is currently on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

Here are all of Trump’s cabinet picks so far.

GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, Nov. 18. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. Send feedback, tips and exclusives to nniedzwiadek@politico.com and lukenye@politico.com. Follow us on X at @NickNiedz and @Lawrence_Ukenye.

The lame duck session could reshape major policies before year's end. Get Inside Congress delivered daily to follow the final sprint of dealmaking on defense funding, AI regulation and disaster aid. Subscribe now.

Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.

AROUND THE AGENCIES

BIDEN LOSES ANOTHER REG: A federal judge in Texas blocked the Biden administration’s overtime rule last week, dealing another blow to the president’s labor record.

What’s in the ruling: Judge Sean Jordan of the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the Labor Department crafted the regulation based on workers’ income, rather than the “executive, administrative and professional” exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Why it matters: This is likely a fatal setback for President Joe Biden’s rule in its current form, as the Labor Department under the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to continue defending it in court.

“As long as this decision stands, workers earning as little as $36,000 are no longer guaranteed overtime pay,” a DOL spokesperson said in a statement to Shift. “The Labor Department is evaluating the decision in conjunction with the Department of Justice and will determine next steps in this litigation.”

Nick has more for Pro subscribers.

IN THE STATES

NY GOES AFTER SHEN YUN: The New York Department of Labor opened a probe into the touring performance company Shen Yun Performing Arts after its former members reported training under abusive conditions while being underage, The New York Times reported.

State law requires that performance groups obtain permits to allow underage performers to participate — a precaution that Shen Yun did not take. Performers told The New York Times that they often worked from early morning until midnight without breaks, sometimes carrying heavy equipment.

Leaders at Shen Yun denied that the group violated any labor laws. They said that underage participants were students who received stipends for their time learning with the company, rather than employees. The company recently became certified with the state’s Labor Department, so it now must give the state 30 days notice before minors perform.

More state news: " EVs aren't going away. Here's how Michigan is preparing its workforce," from The Detroit News.

In the Workplace

WHAT TRUMP MEANS FOR 401(K)s: Private equity firms are hoping for a shakeup in retirement savings investments, given that the incoming Trump administration is likely to pursue lax regulations that Biden previously opposed, Bloomberg’s Allison McNeely reports.

Asset management companies will possibly push Trump regulators to allow private, illiquid investments into savers’ accounts like 401(k)s, with an emphasis on target-date funds.

Context: "During the first Trump administration in 2020, the Labor Department published a letter concluding that private equity investments could have a place in 401(k)s as part of a broader investment fund such as a target-date fund," McNeely writes.

Trump’s appointments to DOL and the Securities and Exchange Commission could offer an indication as to how his administration will approach private equity’s involvement in retirement savings.

Unions

PINK SLIPS: Boeing laid off hundreds of workers of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace union last week, The Seattle Times reported.

The plane maker announced last month that it planned to trim 10 percent of its workforce amid growing financial woes and a recent work stoppage that lasted weeks.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, which recently agreed to a new deal with Boeing, were not affected by the most recent round of job cuts.

Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy.