April 7, 2023

In a letter dated April 6th to President Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO), and Republican members of California’s congressional delegation called on the President to withdraw Julie Su’s nomination to be U.S. Secretary of Labor. House Republicans base their opposition to Ms. Su’s nomination on her management of California’s unemployment insurance (UI) claims system during COVID when she led California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency and her support for changes to California and federal law regarding the classification of workers as independent contractors.

The letter highlights a report detailing that during Ms. Su’s tenure as California Labor Secretary, the state unemployment insurance agency she oversaw paid $10.4 billion in fraudulent UI claims. Republicans stress that $1 billion of the $10.4 billion in fraudulent payments were due to a decision Su made to streamline the Economic Development Department's process by removing a basic safeguard against paying individuals with unconfirmed identities.

The letter also takes issue with Ms. Su’s support for legislation and policies in California that Republicans say make it harder to classify workers as independent contractors, including California’s AB-5 law. Based on her record in California, House Republicans are concerned about Su overseeing finalization of the U.S. Department of Labor’s pending rulemaking on the classification of workers as employees versus independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The letter says Su’s support for AB-5 and similar “problematic public policies...puts millions of Americans at risk of losing the power to choose when, where, and how to work.”

The full letter is available here.

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