Key Senate Democrats remain non-committal on Biden's labor secretary pick ahead of confirmation

[Celerity]

hearing

President Joe Biden’s pick to be the next labor secretary, Julie Su, has yet to secure the support of key Democrats ahead of her nomination hearing on Thursday, suggesting she faces an uphill battle to confirmation by the Senate.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/19/politics/julie-su-labor-secretary-confirmation-hearing/index.html



The tepid reception among some members of the president’s own party is part of a broader issue that’s emerged in recent months for the Biden administration. Despite a narrow majority in the Senate, Democrats have with more recent frequency failed to sign off on high-profile Biden appointees – torpedoing Phil Washington’s nomination to lead the Federal Aviation Administration as well as Gigi Sohn’s nomination to the Federal Communications Commission. If Su does not secure enough support from the Senate, she would be the highest-ranking Biden nominee so far to fail to be confirmed.

In the 51-49 Democratic-controlled Senate, more than two liberal defections could tank the nomination. And if California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has been away from Congress while recovering from shingles for the past two months, or another Democratic senator is absent, the path would narrow ever more.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on the chamber to confirm Biden’s labor nominee, and on Tuesday afternoon, Su was on Capitol Hill meeting with Democratic Majority Whip Dick Durbin. But two Democratic senators up for reelection in red states, Montana Sen. Jon Tester and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, are not ready to throw their support behind her yet. It’s also not clear how Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year but kept her committee assignments with the majority, will vote.

Tester, who says he plans to meet with Su following Thursday’s hearing, told reporters on Tuesday that he remains “very ambivalent,” adding, “I voted for her before. I don’t have a problem with her right now.” “I have no comment,” Manchin told CNN three times when asked about Su. Hannah Hurley, a spokesperson for Sinema’s office, told CNN that the senator “does not preview her votes.”

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[Mad_Machine76]

1. WTF is wrong with some Senate Dems?!

We need people confirmed to be running these agencies! What is their issue with these folks?

[Celerity]

2. they will use the excuse that 'my state is Red', as if blocking a Labor Sec is going to make MAGAts

magically vote for them.

Manchin used that excuse (and said businesses could not afford it) to go against a 15 usd per hour minimum wage (which is now worth around half of what 15 usd per hour was worth, in terms of purchasing power, the last time the minimum wage was raised in the noughties, due to inflation) the when all polls on balance showed a clear majority of WV voters (with Rethugs included) in favour of it. Same for Sinema with ignoring the wishes of the AZ voters.

[Mad_Machine76]

4. So much

for them being/caucusing as a reliable Democratic vote for nominees too

[Caliman73]

3. Su is pro-labor.

She has been an advocate and ally of working people.

I will allow you to infer from that what Manchin, Synema, and Tester object to.

[Mad_Machine76]

5. I figured

Imagine the horrors of having a LABOR SECRETARY who supports and advocates for working people?!!