The U.S. Senate has confirmed Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor.
The Senate voted 60-38 in favor of confirming Acosta on April 27. He was approved March 30 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on a 12-11 party-line vote.
Currently Acosta serves as dean of Florida International University’s law school, a post he has held since 2009. He has also been:
- a member of the National Labor Relations Board (2002-2003);
- Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (2003-2005);
- the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida (2005-2009) and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3d Circuit; and
- chairman of U.S. Century Bank since 2013.
The 48-year-old Acosta is the son of Cuban immigrants. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard and a law degree from Harvard Law School. Acosta practiced law at the firm of Kirkland & Ellis.
Acosta is expected to act quickly to address some Obama-era regulations – notably, though not exclusively, the fiduciary regulation.
