The United States was founded as a land of freedom and opportunity, and for generations, California was the state where the American Dream was most fully realized. From the technology corridor in the Bay Area to the bright lights of Los Angeles to the rich farmland of the valley, our beautiful state set the standard for American success and innovation. But today, that shine is wearing off. Trash and needles litter our streets, homeless encampments overwhelm our downtowns, criminals overrun our communities.
Whether it’s the $100 billion being squandered on an ill-fated “high speed” train, the grievous learning loss future generations suffered from school shutdowns, or countless other failures of policy and basic competence, the Golden State has been let down by the very leaders trusted to govern it. What’s even more alarming is that several of these leaders are now taking Sacramento-style mismanagement to the national level. And the latest example may be the most concerning yet: President Biden has nominated former California Labor and Workforce Development Agency head Julie Su to be the next United States Secretary of Labor.
During the pandemic, Julie Su and her Employment Development Department (EDD) became the national poster child for government failure. Su’s department notoriously paid $32.6 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits to scammers using names like John Doe and Dianne Feinstein. It was the largest case of fraud in California history, enabled by Su’s inexplicable decision to forgo basic fraud prevention measures like cross-checking benefit claims against the prison rolls. The consequences are now clear to see – both Sacramento and Washington project billions of dollars in deficits this fiscal year, requiring hard choices between different programs that could have been avoided if Su’s department took proper care of taxpayer funds.
BIDEN’S ‘NIGHTMARE’ LABOR NOMINEE UNDER FIRE FROM SMALL BUSINESSES, CONTRACT WORKERS
Instead, those tax dollars are being used by felons to fund further criminal schemes. It is a bitter pill to swallow for millions of law-abiding Californians whose legitimate unemployment claims were wrongfully withheld for weeks, months, or sometimes indefinitely under Su’s mismanagement. In 2020, even most Democrats in the California State Assembly took Su’s agency to task for its “long-winded excuses, fumbling non-answers, or unclear or inconsistent data” along with “obfuscation and dishonesty” as their constituents struggled to put food on the table.
As U.S. Secretary of Labor, Su would be bound by the Department’s mission statement: to “foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners and ensure work-related benefits.” Given her abysmal track record in California, it’s clear that a promotion to the nation’s top labor office would be a disservice to the American people.
And the EDD debacle is not all Julie Su is known for. She infamously put union bosses before workers as an architect of AB 5, a law that destroyed countless livelihoods in California. Worse, she is pushing a national version known as the PRO Act, which like AB 5, forces independent workers to either give up their independence and work as someone else’s employee or stop working altogether. Thankfully, the PRO Act has not become law, yet Su appears poised to enact the same policy without the consent of Congress. If confirmed, she would undoubtedly finalize the Biden Administration’s proposed independent contractor rule that is designed to implement an AB-5-style regime nationwide.
This harmful policy has already been rejected by California voters. Proposition 22, which supported gig workers’ right to flexible work, was overwhelmingly approved by nearly 60 percent of voters in 2020. And just this month, a state appellate court unanimously upheld Prop. 22, ruling in favor of gig work, and telling Julie Su, Governor Gavin Newsom, and President Biden that enough is enough – it’s the American people, not liberal special interests, who should be in control of their own lives and livelihoods.
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In the Republican Party, we believe in second chances – but not infinite chances. And Californians agree. Half a million people abandoned our state between April of 2020 and July of 2022, leading California to lose a Congressional seat for the first time in history. This is not the model for our country to follow.
At a time when our nation has experienced the highest inflation on record and 70 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, we need a Secretary of Labor who has a history of delivering for hardworking families – families who deserve a life beyond barely making ends meet. Julie Su’s record makes it clear that she is not qualified to meet this challenge. At this critical moment for the American economy and workforce, the stakes are too high and Su’s track record is too tarnished for us to believe she can lead the U.S. Department of Labor.
We urge President Biden to withdraw her nomination.
Republican Kevin Kiley represents California’s 3rd Congressional District.
