“It is unimaginable to think that this Administration believes someone who has neither been duly elected nor confirmed by the Senate to the position of Secretary of Labor could be President of the United States.”
WASHINGTON – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and 28 colleagues in raising concerns with President Biden regarding his administration’s apparent attempt to add Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su to the presidential line of succession.
“We write today to express grave concerns with your Administration’s apparent belief that Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su is eligible to assume the office of President of the United States pursuant to the presidential line of succession as established by Congress in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947,” the senators wrote.
The Biden administration made the covert decision to promote Su, despite her lacking Senate confirmation to become Labor Secretary. It is illegal to include a nominee who has not been Senate-confirmed in the line of presidential succession.
“Despite that reality and Ms. Su becoming the longest-ever Cabinet nominee to await confirmation in a time when the same party controls the White House and the Senate, the White House has chosen to keep her in place as Acting Secretary of Labor on an indefinite basis and has also listed her on the White House website as a member of the Cabinet ‘[i]n order of succession to the Presidency,’” the lawmakers said.
“It is unimaginable to think that this Administration believes someone who has neither been duly elected nor confirmed by the Senate to the position of Secretary of Labor could be President of the United States. Suggesting that Ms. Su is eligible to be in the presidential line of succession is antithetical to our system of governance and the bedrock principles on which our Republic rest,” they continued.
In the letter, senators also called on President Biden to nominate a Labor Secretary who is capable of garnering sufficient bipartisan support for confirmation.
Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) also signed the letter. The full letter is available here.
