President Donald Trump has tapped Eugene Scalia, the son of a judicial icon, to be the new labor secretary.
The nomination comes a week after Alex Acosta announced he was stepping down from the post, effective today.
Scalia—a former solicitor for the Labor Department and now a partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher—is the second-oldest son of the late Antonin Scalia, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1986 until his death in 2016. Sen. Tom Cotton reportedly suggested Scalia to Trump for the position, and the Arkansas Republican praised the selection on Twitter.
Here are three things to know about Eugene Scalia.
1. Prior Labor Department Service
President George W. Bush nominated Scalia to be the solicitor of the Labor Department in April 2001. The solicitor is the chief legal officer of the Labor Department with responsibility over litigation and for advising the labor secretary.
But Bush faced a Democrat-controlled Senate during his first two years in office. Some of the Democrats’ opposition to Eugene Scalia stemmed from the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court ruling that settled the contested 2000 presidential election, in which Antonin Scalia was among the justices ruling in Bush’s favor.
There reportedly could have been enough moderate Democrats to confirm Scalia with a majority vote, but then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he would block a vote because Scalia lacked the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
Daschle claimed Scalia had a “record of hostility toward worker protections.” Then-Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., said Scalia lacked the “necessary empathy for workers.”
As a lawyer, Scalia litigated against federal ergonomic regulations pushed by the Clinton administration’s Labor Department in the 1990s. Ergonomics is the study of health and efficiency in the workplace, and the ergonomics regulation was aimed at reducing repetitive stress syndrome.
After Senate Democrats stalled the nomination, Bush made a recess appointment of Scalia in January 2002, and he held the position, succeeded by Howard Radzley, who was confirmed in December 2003. Recess appointments are temporary, but can last up to two years.
2. Prior Administrations’ Experience
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