J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at the Capitol, March 29, 2022
On Friday, I reported on last week’s failure of the Senate to confirm David Weil to head the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. The vote was 47-53, with Democratic Sens. Manchin, Sinema, and Kelly voting against Weil.
One other thing was odd about this vote. Usually, the Senate leadership does a head count. If the votes are not there, the nominee withdraws rather than suffering the repudiation of a negative record vote.
In at least three other cases when the Biden administration lacked the Senate votes, they pulled the nomination. This happened most recently with Sarah Bloom Raskin, who had been named to the Federal Reserve, and Saule Omarova, who was to be comptroller of the currency; early in the administration, Biden’s choice for OMB director, Neera Tanden, did not have the votes and also withdrew.
So how could the Senate leadership have let the Weil nomination go down in a record vote? Chuck Schumer is pretty good at counting heads.
Here’s what I’ve been able to reconstruct:
It was Sinema who broke first, and she has become less and less inclined to communicate, negotiate, or keep the leadership in the loop. Business groups had made an all-out push to defeat Weil, especially the International Franchise Association, which feared a Labor Department rule making parent companies and franchises jointly responsible for decisions affecting workers.
Other corporate opponents included the small-business lobby (the NFIB), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Uber and Lyft. The ridesharing companies are especially vulnerable to new worker protections, because their business model is already in trouble, with higher gas prices and better-paying job opportunities competing for drivers.
When Sinema decided to oppose Weil, her fellow Arizona senator, Mark Kelly, facing a close re-election, figured the nomination was doomed and he might as well ingratiate himself with the business groups. (This may well backfire, since business will support almost any Republican against Kelly, while the vote against Weil mightily offends labor and immigrant rights groups that depend on strong enforcement of labor laws.) When Sinema and Kelly decided to sink the nomination, the corporate Manchin went along as well.
One other telling coincidence was the administration’s decision April 1 to terminate Title 42, the Trump-era gimmick that used supposed public-health concerns to drastically restrict Mexican migration. Sinema and Kelly had both pressured Biden to keep the restrictions in place. After he suspended them, both issued blistering statements. It’s possible that they were tipped off to Biden’s decision, and their March 30 vote against Weil was payback.
This still doesn’t solve the riddle of why Schumer scheduled a record vote. Even if the bizarre Sinema considers herself a free spirit, Kelly is less of a loose cannon and more of a team player. It’s hard to believe he didn’t alert the Democratic Senate leader.
One source whom I trust speculates that Schumer wanted the faithless Democrats to be put on the record, as a badge of shame. One can argue about whether that was smart. It certainly was a disservice to David Weil.
