On Tuesday, House Oversight Committee member Virginia Fox (R-NC) urged acting labor secretary Julie Su to appear before the committee before June to avoid “undue delay” in preventing the committee “from conducting its oversight work,” The Washington Examiner reported.
In her April 18 letter, Congresswoman Foxx, who also chairs the Committee on Education and the Workforce, reminded the acting labor secretary that she is obligated “to be accountable” to the committee as it conducts oversight on high-ranking officials and federal departments.
Foxx reminded Su that she is holding hearings with agency heads in May and that Su’s intention not to appear before the committee until the summer was “unacceptable.” She suggested that Su is more concerned about protecting her “prospects as a nominee” than she is about fulfilling her “obligation to respond to oversight and be accountable.”
Foxx harshly criticized the Biden Labor Department for its pursuit of a “destructive agenda” that is stifling economic growth through “more regulations and red tape” while producing “fewer results for workers and employers.” She said that the Labor Department of ballooning costs “at the expense” of taxpayers.
Despite this, Foxx notes in her letter, the Labor Department remains “unresponsive” to the Oversight Committee’s request. She told Su that it is “critical” for her to answer questions from Oversight Committee members on the Labor Department’s “alarming record.”
The Oversight Committee’s new date for a hearing with acting labor secretary Su is scheduled for May 17.
Julie Su faces a grueling confirmation in the Senate.
According to the Washington Examiner, Su’s support for regulatory measures opposed by both the business and tech industries could lose her the support of the two centrist Democrat Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Tester (D-MT), as well as Arizona’s Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Senator Manchin has already voiced private concerns over her nomination.
