Senate Republicans unveiled a new package of more than 80 pending Trump Administration nominees on which lawmakers plan to hold confirmation votes using the new process to confirm nominees in blocs rather than individually. Of relevance to SWACCA, the new package includes: (1) Crystal Carey to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); (2) James Murphy to be a member of the NLRB; (3) Henry Mack, III to be Administrator of the Labor Department’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (which oversees registered apprenticeship programs); (4) Rosario Palmieri to be DOL Assistant Secretary for Policy; (5) former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to be DOL Inspector General; (6) James Percival to be General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security; (7) Jeffrey Hall to be the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); (8) Douglas Troutman to be Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances at EPA; and (9) Edward Forst to be Administrator of the General Services Administration.
The nomination package comes as President Trump’s second term personnel operation is showing strain beneath a record pace of confirmation, with an unprecedented 57 nominees withdrawn in the first year due to poor vetting, internal White House infighting, GOP resistance, and Trump’s own sudden reversals. Senate Republicans say that the Trump Administration is repeatedly advancing nominees who cannot win support.