Senate approves Keith Sonderling’s nomination as deputy labor secretary
Washington — Keith Sonderling is the new deputy labor secretary, after the Senate confirmed his nomination with a 53-46 party-line vote on March 12.
Sonderling was most recently the senior advisor to acting labor secretary Vince Micone, until Lori Chavez-DeRemer was sworn in as labor secretary on March 11.
During his Feb. 27 confirmation hearing, Sonderling was asked about his firsthand knowledge of the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to Department of Labor data.
“Everything related to DOGE’s access or requested access to the Department of Labor is in litigation right now,” Sonderling said in slight variations at times during the hearing. “The Department of Justice represents the Department of Labor on all of those matters.”
Following up, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) asked, “Is the access frozen during the court’s contemplation of these issues?”
Sonderling responded, “According to my knowledge of the lawsuit, which is all based on public information, there’s been zero access given.”
Sonderling was a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from September 2020 until August. He also served as the acting administrator and deputy administrator for the DOL Wage and Hour Division.
Sonderling was previously a labor and employment lawyer in his home state of Florida and lectured at the George Washington University Law School.
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