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Labor Secretary Vote Moves Ahead

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has taken a procedural step to advance the confirmation vote for President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor.

Alexander Acosta was approved March 30 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on a 12-11 party-line vote.

McConnell filed for cloture — a procedure to end debate and take a vote — Monday afternoon, according to published reports. Republicans only need a majority vote on that procedural move to go ahead to a full confirmation vote, though Democrats could temporarily delay the final vote.

Currently Acosta serves as dean of Florida International University’s law school. He is a former NLRB member, federal prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department. Trump picked Acosta in mid-February after his previous pick for the office, fast-food businessman Andrew Puzder, withdrew. Democrats have been critical of the Acosta pick, though the opposition against him has not been as strong as it was against Puzder, and he has picked up support from some labor unions.

With controversy still swirling around the timing and implications of the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation, its delayed applicability date, and the reexamination of its impact by President Trump, Acosta will have to hit the ground running.