Senate Confirms Sonderling as Labor Secretary, Then Bolts Town for a Six-Week Campaign Recess
A party-line 47-41 vote installs Keith Sonderling as the nation's 31st Labor Secretary just as the Senate heads home to campaign — leaving Washington dark until after the midterms.
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Keith Sonderling as the United States' 31st Secretary of Labor in a late-night, party-line vote of 47-41, with six Republicans and six Democrats absent for the count, according to The Daily Signal. Sonderling had been serving as acting secretary since Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned earlier this year following an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct.
Sonderling's path to the top of the Labor Department was a long one. He first cleared the Senate as Deputy Secretary of Labor in March 2025, was elevated to acting secretary by President Trump in April, and finally faced his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee back on July 16 — more than two months before Wednesday night's vote, according to Bloomberg Law.
Grandson of Holocaust Survivors Takes the Helm
Sonderling, whose confirmation was championed by groups including the ESOP Association, is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, a biographical detail that drew attention in Jewish press coverage of the vote, per JNS. He now takes permanent control of an agency that oversees everything from wage enforcement to workplace safety rules, at a moment when gig-economy labor fights and AI's effect on jobs are both squarely on the department's plate.
DARK UNTIL AFTER THE MIDTERMS
The confirmation vote was also the Senate's last major act before adjourning for an extended recess. The chamber is expected to follow the House, which is already out for six weeks, so members on both sides can campaign ahead of the November 3 midterms that will decide control of Congress. Majority Leader John Thune has said he would be "very surprised" if the Senate returned to Washington before November, even as some Republicans had pushed to stay in session longer to notch additional legislative wins before facing voters.
The timing leaves a long list of unfinished business — and no shortage of Trump nominees still awaiting votes — sitting untouched until lawmakers return. For Sonderling, it means stepping into the permanent job with a Senate that, for the next six weeks at least, won't be looking over his shoulder.