Moderate Dems hand Biden his first nomination vote defeat
The vote that tanked David Weil’s bid to head the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division is a major defeat for Biden, who frequently touts his pro-labor agenda, and Schumer, who apparently miscalculated.
A trio of moderate Senate Democrats dealt a fatal blow to David Weil’s bid to head the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division Wednesday night by unexpectedly voting against moving forward on his nomination and, in the process, undermining President Joe Biden’s labor agenda.
Weil, the first Biden nominee to fail on the Senate floor, previously held the position under former President Barack Obama. His track record in that administration and, more recently, sharp criticism of Uber and other gig-work giants, earned him heated opposition from Republicans and business groups, who insist that his reinstatement could pose a threat to the economic recovery.
The job is more crucial than it has been in decades, with workplaces and the labor market undergoing historic changes driven by the pandemic.
The GOP’s unified front meant Weil needed support from all 50 Democrats to move forward — and congressional leadership remained optimistic throughout Wednesday that they had the votes. But moderate Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin eventually joined Republicans to vote against proceeding with the nomination.
“Kyrsten evaluates all nominees based on three criteria: whether or not they are professionally qualified, believe in the missions of their agencies, and can be trusted to faithfully execute and uphold the law,” a spokesperson for Sinema told POLITICO. “Upon reviewing Mr. Weil’s nomination, she has concerns with his ability to faithfully execute and uphold the law.”
Manchin was more blunt: “It was too much of a risk to take,” he said.
The vote is a big defeat for the Biden administration, which frequently touts its labor agenda, and for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who lined up Weil’s nomination Monday night no doubt anticipating that the Obama alum had the backing necessary.
Manchin was undecided and still reviewing the matter as late as Wednesday, a person familiar with his thinking said. Sinema played a key role in swaying him and Kelly to vote no, two other people familiar with the conversations said.
It’s exceedingly rare for congressional leadership to bring agenda items to the floor that lawmakers wind up voting down. Indeed, of the 204 cloture motions to clear the way for a final roll call that Congress has voted on to date, just 10 have failed — and those were on pieces of legislation with 60-vote thresholds.
“David Weil is a qualified nominee for the Department of Labor, and we’re disappointed he didn’t get the votes on the floor of the Senate last night. Confirming his nomination would be good for workers,” a spokesperson for the White House said in a statement. “We’ll continue to evaluate this nomination and how we move forward, but remain proud of the Administration’s pro-worker policies and work being done.”
Weil joins a handful of Biden picks who have failed to garner the necessary support in the Senate. But every other unsuccessful nomination — including those of Neera Tanden, David Chipman and Sarah Bloom Raskin — was yanked before reaching the floor once pivotal senators like Manchin, Sinema and Kelly signaled they lacked the necessary support.
As Obama’s wage-and-hour chief from 2014 to 2017, Weil implemented several regulations that drew criticism from Republicans and business groups, including rules that dramatically expanded the number of workers eligible to earn overtime; increased the number of employers who could be held liable as so-called joint employers; and placed limits on which workers could qualify as independent contractors rather than employees.
“I heard from a lot of business owners, and being somebody who started a business myself, it’s hard,” Kelly told POLITICO. “There were concerns about how he’d interpret things — and he had served in the position before, so there’s precedent.”
Since leaving the public sector for a career in academia, Weil has been outspoken in his opposition to the business models of gig companies like Uber and Lyft, which opponents of his nomination seized on as a sign that he would overhaul employee classification if confirmed. Biden’s Labor Department rolled back a Trump-era WHD rule that made it easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors: The agency’s next head will have the power to sculpt its replacement.
“I certainly hope that yesterday’s vote conveys to the Labor Department how little support there is in Congress for the kind of wage and hour policies Weil supports,” said Ed Egee, vice president of government relations and workforce development at National Retail Federation, which did not take a formal position on Weil’s nomination.
The Biden administration will likely need to name a different nominee to lead the agency as it works to staff its Labor Department in the midst of a pandemic that has sparked a large-scale reevaluation of the workplace. WHD, which has not had a permanent leader in years, is currently helmed by acting Administrator Jessica Looman.
“Any new nominee is going to have to answer the same exact questions that David Weil answered,” said Matt Haller, president of the International Franchise Association, which has led the pressure campaign opposing the erstwhile nominee. “These policies do not address the issues that are front and center in the country right now.”
The battle to advance Weil’s nomination out of committee proved a bellwether for its eventual demise Wednesday. The Senate HELP Committee deadlocked 11-11 on a vote last year, forcing a revote in January where lawmakers eventually advanced his nomination along party lines.
“I’m incredibly disappointed to see Dr. Weil, an exceptionally qualified nominee with a long track record fighting to ensure workers get the wages they have earned, did not get the votes tonight to be confirmed,” Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement Wednesday after the vote.
Marianne LeVine, Anthony Adragna and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.