Biden labor secretary nominee oversaw billions of dollars lost in unemployment fraud as Newsom Cabinet member | Fox News
By: Jessica Chasmar (Fox News)
Two boxes checked...............not a good look.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Biden discusses his plan to protect Americans' access to affordable health care.
President Biden will nominate Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su to head the Labor Department, replacing Marty Walsh, the White House said Tuesday, setting up for a fiery confirmation process after she faced Republican criticism for a massive unemployment insurance scandal that happened on her watch as California's labor chief.
The White House called Su a "tested and experienced leader" and said she would help to build a "more inclusive economy" in an announcement Tuesday.
"Over several decades, Julie has led the largest state labor department in the nation, cracked down on wage theft, fought to protect trafficked workers, increased the minimum wage, created good-paying, high-quality jobs, and established and enforced workplace safety standards," Biden said.
Su, the former secretary of labor for California, was confirmed by a razor-thin margin, 50-47, by the U.S. Senate in July 2021 to serve in her current role.
Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su attends a Learn About Worker Experiences event at the Skal restaurant in Brooklynon April 11, 2022 in New York City.(Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for One Fair Wage)
BIDEN TO NOMINATE JULIE SU AS NEXT LABOR SECRETARY
Seven congressional Republicans from California signed a letter last week that urged Biden not to consider Su for the position.
The members of Congress — led by Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif. — accused Su of overseeing "one of the largest cases of unemployment insurance fraud" during the pandemic and of implementing one of the "most destructive labor policies in decades" during her time as California's labor secretary.
Republican Kevin Kiley speaks as KCRA 3 and San Francisco Chronicle hold a debate of California gubernatorial recall election candidates in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, August 25, 2021.(San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images)
The state's Employment Development Department, which handles unemployment benefits, reportedly paid between $20 billion to $32 billion to fraudsters.
Friday's letter said the most "infuriating" part of the situation is it "could easily have been prevented had the state implemented proper fraud prevention systems."
It added, "While the state stood by twiddling its thumbs and $32 billion in fraudulent payments were being sent to individuals who did not qualify for the assistance, those who were eligible and truly needed the help did not receive payments in time for months on end."
Su argued during her 2021 confirmation hearings that the fraud was part of a criminal conspiracy that went well beyond California.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. argued at the hearings, "It is true that all states struggled, but California's struggles swamp everyone. And none of their (other states') secretaries of labor are here today seeking a promotion."
Senator Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021.(Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
California was targeted by domestic and foreign criminals, who made false unemployment benefit claims during the COVID-19 pandemic and ran off with the cash, a state audit revealed in 2021. Over $400 million of that taxpayer money went to tens of thousands of prisoners - including 100 who were on death row.
Su had previously admitted in a press conference that the state had "not had sufficient security measures in place" to prevent the fraud. She then blamed the Trump administration for the fraud and backlog of unemployment claims, claiming the former president's team had not given adequate guidance to fight back against the fraud.
Fox News' Timothy Nerozzi, Brie Stimson and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
Jessica Chasmar is a digital writer on the politics team for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Jessica.Chasmar@fox.com.
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And in true Democrat form....................
"She then blamed the Trump administration for the fraud and backlog of unemployment claims, claiming the former president's team had not given adequate guidance to fight back against the fraud."
You had a job that you were supposedly qualified to do. Why would you need the feds to guide you? Makes no sense but again, boxes checked.
Can you show that she was wrong?
Yep. It wasn't the administration's job to do hers for her. It was hers and hers alone. And one would have to ask if she even requested help. By the magnitude of the problem, I would say she should have noticed LOOOOONG before it got to that level.
That's not an answer. To show she was wrong, you need to show that the Trump administration had timely dealt with fraud and did not leave a backlog of claims.
Any other reply from you would just be another deflection and show you are unable to backup your claim of her being wrong.
Let me type this real slow..............I T W A S N ' T T H E A D M I N I S T R A T I O N' S J O B T O D O H E R F U C K I N G J O B F O R H E R. I T W A S A S T A T E I S S U E N O T A F E D E R A L O N E.
Let me type this very slowly for you.
I f y o u a r e j u s t g o i n g t o k e e p d e f l e c t i n g f r o m m y q u e s t i o n, j u s t s t o p r e p l y i n g. I t i s a w a s t e o f m y t i m e.
And it should not be HER job to have to do THEIR job because THEY didn't do it when it was THEIR job.
Always the deflection from some
No, that was Ozzy speaking slowly and without inflection, not deflection.
How do you figure it was their job to do the state's unemployment insurance monitoring?
Apparently Julie Su was selected solely for the political optics. Seems abundantly obvious that Republicans will oppose Su's appointment as Labor Sec. for rather obvious reasons. So, the whole point of this political theater is really about highlighting Republican opposition.
Problem is that fewer people trust the press any longer. In the end, this could be seen by the public as just another botched up job by Biden. Politics has changed and Biden's style of dirty politics has become obsolete.
What do you expect? There is a growing slice of this toxic administration that is there solely to check the block.
No, Su's nomination was not to check blocks, IMO. Nominating Julie Su was intended to put Republicans on camera opposing her appointment. The press is supposed to run with that story and portray Republicans as xenophobic misogynists. Julie Su is expendable.
The press might not play along this time. The press has to worry about its own public approval. So, Biden's dirty politics may well backfire.
Lemme guess, Biden is touting what boxes she checks, not her competence
As we have increasingly seen, experience and a minimum level of competence is not required in the Biden style of government. It's all about equity, diversity, and inclusion,
Multiple examples....vice president, transportation secretary, press secretary, etc.
What? Rachel Levine doesn't even get a mention? Biden will be so disappointed.
She was part of a government that had thousands fleeing California for other states.
Brandon must be hoping she can do the same thing on a national level. Drive US citizens out; that way they can bring in even more cheap illegal immigrant labor.