Democratic senators press Sonderling on overtime, contractor rules
Keith Sonderling told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday that his career across multiple roles — private practice, a Republican seat on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an adjunct professorship at George Washington University, and senior advisory positions at the Labor Department under Trump — gives him a grounding in labor law that few nominees possess.
“Few people have had the opportunity to experience the department from so many perspectives,” Sonderling said.
Sonderling has been acting secretary since April, when the White House announced that Lori Chavez-DeRemer would leave the Cabinet to take a private-sector job after multiple allegations of abuse of power. Trump nominated Sonderling to the permanent post in late June. Sonderling was confirmed as deputy secretary in March 2025.
The hearing lacked the vitriol that has marked some of Trump’s other confirmation battles, but policy disputes ran deep.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Sonderling’s record signaled that a vote to confirm him would be a vote “to strip overtime protections for our workers, to undercut our unions and to let giant corporations get away with robbery, literally.” She pointed to the department’s decision this year to rescind a Biden-era rule expanding overtime eligibility, which the department had estimated would provide an additional 4 million lower-paid salary workers with overtime protections. A federal judge had blocked the rule during the final months of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Murray also noted that the department is pursuing a new rule for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, which she said would allow corporations to classify workers as contractors to pay lower wages, depriving workers of billions of dollars annually. She said the Labor Department also fired most employees in the office that works to protect workers from discrimination by federal contractors.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said Sonderling is “without a doubt” qualified to serve as Labor secretary and has provided “stability and steady leadership” at the department since Chavez-DeRemer’s abrupt departure.
“He is committed to making America the best place to get a job,” Scott said.
A recurring issue was the administration’s handling of Education Department grant programs as Trump works to fulfill his campaign pledge to close the department. Sonderling said Education Department staff have been detailed to his department and are making policy decisions, while the Labor Department assists on the back end with disbursing funds. He said $1.5 billion came to his department at midnight on July 1 and was disbursed within an hour or two.
“And the states love this,” Sonderling said.
Several senators raised concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce. Sonderling said the department is collecting information from companies and unions about AI usage, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics will review the data to help steer job training money to states more effectively. He said a “gloom and doom narrative” about AI’s impact on workers is being driven by consultants and the tech industry.
“What we believe we’re going to see is that AI-impacted jobs can potentially make you more productive. It can make your workplaces safer, but we can’t get that information yet,” Sonderling said.
Sonderling also highlighted his work with Vice President JD Vance on a fraud prevention task force. He said he is telling states to “verify first and pay later” when processing unemployment insurance claims, and that the department is working with Alabama on a centralized verification system.
“They have some of the lowest fraud and improper payment rates in the country because they are verifying,” Sonderling said.