By Congressman Kevin Kiley – February 17, 2023
The Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, is resigning to take a job with the NHL Players Union. I can see why representing pro athletes would be more appealing than serving in Joe Biden’s Cabinet.
What’s alarming is who Biden is favoring as the presumptive nominee to replace him: Julie Su, who was Gavin Newsom’s own Labor Secretary in California. This is called failing up.
I am leading the opposition to Su’s potential nomination on Capitol Hill. I’ve just sent Biden a letter signed by other California Members of Congress with a simple message: Su’s tenure in the Newsom Administration was a disaster.
As California Labor Secretary, she was at the center of Newsom’s corruption and incompetence:
- After Newsom locked down the state, Su oversaw the EDD, the nation’s most inept unemployment office. 5 million Californians had benefits delayed and 1 million had benefits improperly denied.
- While hardworking California citizens couldn’t get their benefits, she let $30 billion go out the door in fraudulent payments to criminals – the largest fraud of taxpayer dollars in history.
- She supported and enforced Newsom’s vile AB 5 law, which put countless independent contractors out of work. She exploited the COVID shutdown to target them further and even improperly withheld federal benefits from freelancers.
There is no doubt that Newsom, who just returned from DC, is working behind the scenes to install Su. This would give him a greater foothold in Washington and play into his absurd “model for the nation” pitch as he prepares to fail up himself.
