Trump picks Wayne Palmer to lead MSHA
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Department of Labor
Washington — President Donald Trump has nominated Wayne Palmer to lead the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Palmer was principal deputy assistant secretary at MSHA from December 2017 to January 2021 and the agency’s acting head until David Zatezalo’s confirmation in November 2017. Palmer was most recently a senior advisor in the Department of Labor Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, according to his LinkedIn page.
He was executive vice president at the Essential Minerals Association from July 2021 until January.
Palmer’s LinkedIn bio states that he’s “proudly descended from miners of Pennsylvania anthracite coal, Colorado silver, New Jersey iron ore, and Cornwall (UK) copper and tin.”
Palmer’s nomination is with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which he’ll likely appear before sometime soon. A nomination hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet, according to the committee’s website.
A nomination hearing for Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, scheduled for Feb. 12 was postponed until Feb. 19 because of a snowstorm in the nation’s capital.
If confirmed, Palmer would succeed Chris Williamson, who led MSHA from March 2022 through Jan. 20.
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