Julie Su, who was nominated by President Biden in February to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor, may finally get an up-or-down vote in the Senate.
Prior to breaking for the Independence Day recess on June 24, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), the Majority Leader of the Senate, filed a cloture motion for the Senate to expedite the consideration of Su’s nomination when the chamber returns the week of July 12. 
President Biden announced Su’s nomination on Feb. 10. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on her nomination March 16, and subsequently approved her nomination April 21 on a straight party-line vote. But since then, her nomination has been in limbo.
One possible reason is concern over her tenure as California’s labor secretary. During the HELP Committee’s March nomination hearing, Su spent much of the time defending her record as the state’s labor secretary. Several Republicans on the Committee repeatedly questioned her track record after reports surfaced about the billions of dollars in unemployment fraud claims that were disbursed during her time as head of California’s labor department. In response, Su noted that the state’s unemployment system was attacked by a criminal enterprise that cost every state, and that if confirmed, she would use her experience to battle that fraud at the federal level.
While cloture motions typically require a 60-vote threshold, executive nominations require only a simple majority. If the Senate does reach cloture, Su’s nomination would then be subject to two hours of debate prior to the vote.
No EBSA Nominee Yet
In the meantime, there still has been no indication of who President Biden plans to formally nominate to head the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Ali Khawar has been serving as the EBSA Acting Assistant Secretary since January. At this point in the year, this might seem to be a bit behind schedule in the nomination process, but consider that Preston Rutledge under the Trump administration was not nominated until October 2017 and confirmed in December 2017, and Phyllis Borzi under the Obama administration was confirmed in July 2009.
