Warren Issues Statements Opposing Trump’s Nominees for Dept. of Labor, Education

Thursday, October 19, 2017

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Elizabeth Warren

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren issued statements regarding the nominees for the U.S. Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday.

The nominees were considered in an executive session of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

Regarding the nominations of Patrick Pizzella to be Deputy Secretary of Labor, Cheryl Stanton to be DOL Wage and Hour Division Administrator, David Zatezalo to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, and Peter Robb to be General Counsel at the NLRB, Senator Warren issued the following statement:

"President Trump has nominated people to important labor positions who have spent their careers undermining workers' health, safety, and financial security. The nominee charged with making sure employers don't cheat their workers spent years defending giant companies against claims they cheated their workers. The nominee charged with making sure miners are safe on the job ran the first mine in history to enter 'pattern of violation' status twice for injuring and killing miners. The nominee to serve as the top lawyer at the organization Congress created to 'encourage collective bargaining' helped President Reagan break the back of the air-traffic controllers union. And the nominee to the second highest position at the Department of Labor pushed to exempt workers in the Northern Mariana Islands from labor laws so companies could run sweatshops while slapping ' Made in America' labels on their products. These appointments are a slap in the face to every American worker." ‎

Warren issued the following statement regarding President Trump's nominee for ED General Counsel, Carlos Muñiz:

"The fact that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is again being sued by nearly two dozen states for ignoring the law indicates that there is something seriously wrong at the Education Department's legal office. But President Trump's nominee to be the Education Department's top lawyer, Carlos Muñiz, has repeatedly failed to provide any assurance that he will stand up to Betsy DeVos when she ignores the law. His record in the Florida Attorney General's office is marked by example after example of shady for-profit colleges cheating students without any real accountability. And even after multiple opportunities-including a follow-up letter after he refused to answer my written questions- Mr. Muñiz still has not demonstrated a willingness to protect students. President Trump should withdraw his nomination."