Chair Foxx, Chair Smith, Speaker McCarthy, and California Republicans Call on President Biden to Abandon Nomination of Julie Su as Labor Secretary
April 6, 2023
WASHINGTON – American workers and businesses will face more regulation, mismanagement, and waste from Washington should the Senate confirm Julie Su as Labor Secretary, warned House Republicans today. In a letter to President Biden, Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO), Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Representative Michelle Steel (R-CA), Representative Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and Republican members of the California Congressional delegation called on the Biden administration to withdraw Deputy Secretary Su’s nomination for the lead post at the department, citing the severe operational failures that happened under her tenure as Secretary of California’s Labor Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and her track record of promoting radical policies that undermine workers and businesses.
Today’s letter by House Republicans cites Labor Secretary Su’s record of mismanagement, reckless decision making, and poor accountability when given a similar leadership role in California and potential disastrous ramifications at the federal level if Ms. Su becomes Secretary:
“As the head of LWDA, Ms. Su oversaw the Employment Development Department (EDD), which manages UI claims and other benefits programs for the state. In that role, Ms. Su presided over severe operational failures at EDD. A January 2021 report issued by the California State Auditor found significant weaknesses in EDD’s approach to fraud prevention, which led to billions of dollars in improper UI benefit payments. According to the report, EDD paid $10.4 billion on claims that it later determined may be fraudulent. The report specifically stated that $1 billion of this $10.4 billion was due in part to a decision to streamline EDD’s process by removing a basic safeguard against paying individuals with unconfirmed identities…While EDD later estimated the amount of fraud to be $20 billion, an analysis from Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions estimated total fraud of $32.6 billion when other benefit programs administered by EDD were also considered.”
