Manchin, Sinema, Kelly sink Biden labor nominee
David Weil's bid to head the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division was dealt a fatal blow Wednesday, after a trio of Senate Democrats voted against moving forward on his nomination.
Weil, now the first Biden nominee to fail on the Senate floor, has faced heated opposition from Republicans and business groups dating back to his prior stint in the position for the Obama administration, meaning that he'd havelikely needed unified Democratic support. The fate of the vote was still up in the air throughout Wednesday, as several key Democrats had been cagey about where they stood on Weil in recent days.
The details: Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly and Sen. Joe Manchin, three of the caucus' moderates, voted against the procedural vote. The final vote count was 47-53 against invoking cloture.
Weil's defeat on the Senate floor is a major defeat for the Biden administration, which has prided itself on its labor agenda, and for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as leaders typically do not move items if they do not have the votes to pass.
Shortly after the vote concluded, Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray issued a statement lamenting the failure of “an exceptionally qualified nominee with a long track record fighting to ensure workers get the wages they have earned."
Backstory: Weil’s critics have faulted him for Obama-era policy moves on issues like independent contractor classification, joint employment designations and overtime pay, making him one of President Joe Biden's most polarizing labor-related nominees. Several groups have been applying pressure on moderate Democrats like Sinema in hopes of tanking Weil's nomination.
The Senate HELP Committee deadlocked 11-11 on a vote last year to approve Weil. Lawmakers eventually voted to advance his nomination along party lines in January — aided by the absence of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at the time.
What's next: The Biden administration will have to regroup and will likely consider putting forward a different nominee for the post.
Marianne Levine contributed to this report.