Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will take advantage of the chamber’s low Republican attendance this week to hold a vote on President Joe Biden’s long-stalled nominee for a top Labor Department position.
The motion to advance Jose Javier Rodriguez’s nomination as assistant secretary of labor will be brought up for a vote this week, Schumer’s office confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. The vote, which Schumer filed cloture on late Tuesday, has not yet been scheduled, though it will come less than a month after the last vote to advance his nomination failed.
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Rodriguez’s November vote failed 44-51, a result of two Democrats voting against and five senators being absent that day.
Only about 60 of the 100 senators are in Washington this week, the result of the Senate being in session after Christmas recess was supposed to begin. Members are in town because of the unfinished border talks, which have yet to produce a deal, and to confirm the 11 stalled four-star generals held over from Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blanket hold on military promotions.
The vast majority of those who are in town are Democrats, providing Schumer a window to finally push Rodriguez’s nomination through.
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Rodriguez’s nomination, which would have him lead the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration, has been in the works for over two years. Biden first nominated Rodriguez, a workers rights attorney and former Florida state senator, to the post in July 2021.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee was deadlocked on advancing his nomination that year when the Senate was split 50-50 and committees were evenly divided. The stalemate caused Rodriguez’s nomination to expire, forcing Biden to renominate him to the position this year.
