Some Republicans are privately lobbying to make a first-term House Republican the next Labor secretary — a move that would further imperil the party’s tiny congressional majority should President Donald Trump follow through.
Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia is the subject of the behind-the-scenes effort being waged by some Trump administration officials, fellow GOP lawmakers, lobbyists and industry officials, according to nearly 20 people with knowledge of the effort.
Moore has also privately expressed interest in the job during recent conversations with fellow Republicans, according to two of the people, who were granted anonymity to disclose private conversations.
Moore declined to comment. Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, said “when there is an announcement on a permanent nomination, it will be made by the President directly.”
Some Republicans expressed doubt that Trump would nominate Moore, given what it would mean for the GOP’s already tenuous grip on the House.
With the expected swearing-in this week of Rep.-elect James Gallagher (R-Calif.), Republicans can lose up to three votes on party-line measures where all members are voting. But Rep. Tom Kean (R-N.J.) has been absent for months with no firm timeline to return, and Democrats could add two more votes in the coming months when voters in California and Georgia fill vacancies.
As a former welder and one of a handful of elected Republicans with close ties to organized labor, Moore has fans in the GOP both on and off Capitol Hill. Some have suggested Trump could aim to have him start later in the year, when his absence would not have as much impact in the House.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), who chairs House Republicans’ labor caucus, said Moore would be a strong pick.
“I’ve seen first-hand his commitment to working Americans,” LaLota said. “He understands the struggles of blue-collar families, and his record makes clear that he would be an outstanding Secretary of Labor.”
The lobbying effort around Moore comes after the April resignation of Trump’s first Labor secretary, Lori Chavez DeRemer. She, too, was tapped after serving in the House and developing a reputation as a union-friendly Republican before a high-profile series of misconduct allegations against her and her top staffers derailed her tenure.
Moore is a member of a storied West Virginia political family that includes GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, his aunt. Despite serving only 18 months, he is viewed as a close White House ally — for instance, traveling to an El Salvador prison last year to vouch for a Trump plan to send migrants deported from the U.S. there.
But the idea that Moore could get the Labor job is getting sharp pushback from some White House officials who say Trump supports acting Secretary Keith Sonderling, and many Trump officials want to see Sonderling stay in the role.
“Keith Sonderling is doing a great job serving as the acting Labor Secretary,” Rogers said.
In his short time in office, Moore has helped spearhead bipartisan workers-rights legislation, co introducing a bill with Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), as well as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), related to employee labor rights. And while Moore sits at the House GOP leadership table as a member of the Elected Leadership Committee, he has clashed with top Republicans on labor and union issues.
In one instance, he joined with like-minded Republicans to derail a bill that would allow employers to exclude some voluntary training or certification hours from overtime calculations. “I was a welder. It’s what I used to do for a living. So I know these issues pretty well. I’ve done plenty of trainings and certifications and everything else in my life,” Moore said at the time. “I don’t like the idea … where they’re being forced, coerced towards voluntary training making no hourly rate.”
“We need to be standing up for the American worker, not making it more difficult for them,” he added.
Moore’s previous work with Democrats, as well as his own personal connection to a sitting senator, could help him get through the confirmation process. Chavez-DeRemer was confirmed last year with 67 votes, including help from more than a dozen Democrats.
But any Labor nominee will need to get through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who recently lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed challenger and has since shown a willingness to block some presidential priorities.
“I’m going to continue to do what is best for my state and best for my country and try and make every decision with that consideration,” he said after the election when asked about nominees passing through the committee.
Myah Ward contributed to this report.
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