US Senate approves new labor secretary

The Senate confirmed Martin J. Walsh, the mayor of Boston and a former leader of the city’s powerful building trades council, as labor secretary on March 22, Report informs referring to The New York Times.

The vote was 68 to 29.

The confirmation filled the last leadership role for the 15 executive departments in President Biden’s cabinet. Of nine other cabinet-level leadership roles, seven have been filled.

In a statement after the vote, Walsh said that he was grateful for the Senate’s bipartisan support and that he shared Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’s “commitment to building an economy that works for all.”

One of Walsh’s top priorities as labor secretary will be re-energizing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which critics have accused of failing to protect workers during the pandemic.

The safety agency recently put out new guidance to employers on protecting workers from COVID and is considering a new rule to mandate safety measures that the Trump administration rejected.