The Senate voted 47-41 on Wednesday to confirm Keith Sonderling, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, as U.S. labor secretary.
Sonderling told JNS that defending Jews from workplace bias is “personal” for him.
“President Trump’s administration has made this a priority, to make sure that not just antisemitism is eliminated but all religious bias is eliminated,” he previously told JNS.
Sam Markstein, national political director and spokesman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, called Sonderling a “longtime friend” of the RJC.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Sonderling’s leadership, the Labor Department has gotten out of the way of job creators and back to the business of building up American workers by expanding registered apprenticeships and skilled-trades pathways, cutting red tape that strangles small businesses, cracking down on unemployment insurance fraud and preparing America’s workforce for the technologies that will define the next generation,” he told JNS.
“Notably, as the grandson of Holocaust survivors who were denied jobs because they were Jewish, Secretary Sonderling has made confronting antisemitism and religious discrimination a departmental priority,” Markstein told JNS. “President Trump picked the right man for the job.”
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, stated that “Keith has already demonstrated his commitment to supporting American workers, creating jobs and removing burdensome regulations that limit opportunity.”
Sonderling “understands that when American workers and job creators succeed, our country succeeds,” Walberg stated.
Sonderling has been acting labor secretary since April. The previous secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned amid several allegations, including of a toxic workplace.
A longtime Labor Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission official, Sonderling was deputy labor secretary and EEOC commissioner during the first Trump administration.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, stated that Sonderling “knows what it takes to protect workers and help businesses create jobs.”
