Manchin and Sinema Strike Again
The latest betrayal by moderate Democrats in sinking Biden's nominee for the Department of Labor signals a bigger problem - Americans are looking away while big business continues to keep them down.
Last night, in a procedural vote to move forward on the nomination of David Weil to lead the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, moderate Democrats Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted against invoking cloture, causing the first Biden nominee to fail the confirmation process.
Weil has been heavily challenged by Republicans and business groups dating back to his prior stint in the position for the Obama administration, where he was faulted for policy moves that sought to promote workers’ rights on issues like independent contractor classification, joint employment designations, and overtime pay.
Due to this mounting corporate pressure, the fate of Weil’s nomination was firmly in the hands of moderate Democrats, who were not speaking openly before the vote last night about where they would place their support. The special interest groups that have been steadily applying pressure on swing voters like Sinema and Manchin have succeeded in yet another round of persuading the two to vote against their party interests, leveling a caustic blow against the strong labor agenda set by Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Biden administration.
None of the Democrats who voted against Weil gave any indication as to why they had refused to support Biden’s nominee, but Manchin had privately voiced concerns about raising David Weil up to the position of top federal wage regulator, based on Weil’s fierce criticism of gig-economy companies.
This failure to advance Weil on Wednesday is also indicative of the possible roadblocks the Biden administration is set to face with their impending labor agenda, including the economy-wide ramifications of who the Senate will agree to confirm to head up the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department.
There is mounting pressure for Biden and Schumer to pass certain federal regulations that would keep ride-hail (Uber, Lyft) and delivery drivers (Uber, DoorDash), from being classified as independent contractors who are thus exempted from federal workplace protections.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who chairs the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted her disappointment in a statement shortly after the vote. “I'm incredibly disappointed to see Dr. Weil, an exceptionally qualified nominee with a long track record fighting to ensure workers get the wages they have earned, did not get the votes tonight to be confirmed as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor,” Murray said. “Despite this outcome, I will never stop fighting for working families and for a fully staffed Department of Labor with leaders committed to protecting workers," she added.
The bigger consquence of Manchin and Sinema’s latest betrayal remains: with a shifting economy and the need for many workers to freelance and take independent contracting jobs, the likelihood of establishing permanent labor policies, which strike against the money interests of big corporations in favor of the average worker, decreases.
This is not just another twist of the knife by swing Democrats, rather it is the total gutting of an entire agenda that seeks to protect the American worker. By posing a financial threat to the country’s most prosperous companies, the Biden administration is set to lose several future battles involving worker’s rights. What is more worrisome is the pending threat both Manchin and Sinema now pose to the entire Labor Policies put forward by the Democratic Party.
Someone should explain to both Manchin and Sinema that the bulk of America is made up of moderates who both support and work for many of these gig jobs that are seeking to keep them down. At the very least someone should tell the moderate voters what is continuing to happen against their own interests.
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Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter and hosts the live SHERO podcast on Callin. She is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
Democrats need to return to the FDR policies of supporting labor and "kitchen table issues" if they are to have a chance at beating the pro-corporate, pro-religious extreme right that is slowly taking over the country. Sadly Manchin and Sinema are corporate toadies interested only in lining their own pockets. Biden needs to use his bully pulpit a whole lot more to put these clowns on notice. He should be railing against them daily the same way Fat Don rails against his wayward republicans to keep them in line.
I cringe every time I see these two referred to as moderate Democrats. I get that they're from conservative strongholds & likely the best that we can hope for, but I really hope they've given left-leaning voters enough reasons why it's so important to get out & vote & render them irrelevant. I never expected a great leap forward with Biden at the helm, but they continue to kneecap him at even the least aspirational steps. I loathe McConnell, but he seems to have much more control over how his party will vote than Schumer.