Trump formally sends Labor secretary nomination to Senate

President Trump on Wednesday officially sent his pick of Eugene Scalia as Labor secretary to the Senate.

The formal measure moves forward the process for Scalia, a longtime labor attorney and son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

{mosads}The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will consider Eugene Scalia’s nomination before he moves on to a vote before the full chamber.

Scalia served as the top legal officer at the Department of Labor during the George W. Bush administration and previously was a special assistant to Attorney General William Barr during his first stint as the top law enforcement officer under the George H.W. Bush administration.

He is currently a partner at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and he has a career history of representing businesses and fighting to roll back labor regulations. One of his more prominent cases involved representing Walmart as the retail giant fought a Maryland law on employee health care.

Several Democrats are likely to oppose Scalia’s nomination based on his past work for businesses in labor fights, and labor unions have already voiced their concerns about the pick.

Scalia requires a simple majority to get confirmed. With Republicans holding 53 seats in the Senate, he is likely to get the job barring multiple GOP defections.

If confirmed, Scalia will replace Alex Acosta, who resigned earlier this year amid scrutiny of his handling of a case involving Jeffrey Epstein while he was a U.S. attorney.