Hearings to examine the nomination of Keith Sonderling, of Florida, to be Secretary of Labor.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will please come to order. Mister Sonderling, thank you for appearing before the committee and for your willingness to serve again the American people, and this time as Secretary of Labor. Mister Sonderling currently serves as the Acting Secretary at the Department of Labor as well as leading sub-agencies within DOL, Guiding policymaking, regulation and enforcement of nation's labor laws. He was confirmed by this committee as Deputy Secretary of Labor last year. Based on his extensive experience in labor and employment policy, and as a public servant, it is clear he is qualified. When President Trump nominated Mister Sonderlin as EEOC Commissioner in twenty twenty the Senate confirmed him with a bi- with bipartisan support. As Commissioner he has worked in a nonpartisan manner. to address illegal workplace discrimination and enforce laws as Congress intended. While at the wage and hour division, Mister Sondling developed President Trump's independent contractor policy, which empowered millions of workers to earn a living in a manner in which they chose. He has continued to push for the American's Americans' ability to work as independent contractors at DOL, championing policies that provide regulatory clarity to workers and businesses as to what constitutes an independent contractor. He has also clarified the joint employer standard protecting the American franchise model that employs over nine million Americans. The workforce is changing, it will continue to change as technology advances. As secretary, I am confident that he will protect workers, help businesses create more jobs, and help workers navigate AI driven changes in the workforce. The apprenticeship model offers a solution, but the current system is too burdensome and inconsistent confuse workers and businesses alike. We must simplify the registration process to make it faster and easier for employers to offer apprenticeships. Sena- Senator Banks and I introduced the START Act, so industries that are unfamiliar with apprenticeships will be able to easily participate. We must also broaden our retirement system, empowering workers to increase their opportunities to build financial security after finishing their career. Mister Sonderlin is already protecting Americans' retirement. Under his leadership, the Department of Labor ended Biden's pattern of seeking frivolous investigations into large employers for political purposes, ensuring that their work was focused on protecting workers' safety savings, not chasing headlines. Americans who are saving for retirement should have access to the same variety of lucrative investments as other investors such as union and government plans. I'm glad the agency proposed a rule clarifying how retirement plans can safely invest in alternative assets. I'm also glad to see Mister Sondelin cracking down on unemployment insurance fraud. Lax con lax controls on unemployment insurance systems place money in the hands of criminals, instead of Americans trying to find a job and to provide for their families. That's why I and this committee conducted oversight of states with egregious improper payment rates. I commend Mister Sondelin for demanding immediate action from states and territories so that Americans' tax dollars will be safeguarded. Thank you, sir, for appearing before the committee. I look forward to hearing more about how you plan to protect workers and create economic growth nationwide. And with that, I recognize Senator Murray.

Well, thank you, Chair Cassidy, and thank you, Acting Secretary Sonderling, for being here today. I'm gonna be straight where I stand here. The Department of Labor has a straightforward mission. It's right there in the name. It's not called the Department of Big Business and Billionaires, it is called the Department of Labor. DOL exists to protect the people who do the work in this country. It exists to make sure an honest day's work means a fair wage, safe workplace, and a voice on the job. That mission is more important than ever since this president and this congress decided that their policy priorities would be trillions in deficit busting tax cuts for billionaires and giant corporations, and starting new wars in the Middle East. That agenda has worked for the very richest and for defense contractors. Elon Musk became a trillionaire. But the basics, groceries, health care, gas, all of that has gotten more and more expensive for regular working people. All while millions of Americans lose their health care, inflation is sky-high, and there is no end in sight to Trump's costly war. That's the state of our c- economy for working families. Thanks to this president. That's the reality for everyone who doesn't get a tax write-off for a private jet. So now you're here asking this committee for a promotion, since your predecessor apparently created such a hostile and scandal-plagued work environment, she was pushed out. But let's be clear. You are not a bystander to this administration's anti-worker policies and agenda. You were confirmed as deputy secretary in March of last year. You've run it as acting secretary since April. I just talked about the harm this ma- republican majority has done to our economy, but you have built your own anti-worker record at DOL. You rescinded the overtime rule in May, slamming the door on time and a half pay for more than four million workers who already aren't making much to begin with. At the same time, you're working to rescind the independent contractor rule. You want to let giant corporations classify workers as contractors, so they don't have to pay the minimum wage in overtime. A conservative estimate finds this rule would rob workers of three point seven billion dollars a year. That is an outside outright grift. You are also pushing a joint employer rule to let giant corporations take advantage of employment structures, so they aren't liable, when people like janitors or nurses get a paycheck stolen. or when there are child labor violations or other worker right violations. But here's what every worker watching needs to understand. This department treats its own employees exactly the way it is letting the worst employees treat theirs. For example, Trump's Department of Labor fired ninety percent of the office that worked to protect workers from discrimination by federal contractors since nineteen sixty-five and when they did that They ignored the four months' notice, its own union contract required. The Department of Labor violating a labor contract. You can't make that up. Then this Department of Labor stood by, while this administration's cl- stripped collective bargaining rights from more than a million federal workers. And you actually helped this administration pressure the federal agency that helps protect our s- civil servants. And when the Bureau of Labor Statistics did its job and reported honest employment numbers, the president did not like, its commissioner was fired with no cause. Who should call worker, who should workers call when this administration has done, been nothing short of outright hostile towards workers and its policies and toward its own employees. I don't have the time to get into how you've undercut this agency's capacity to crack down on wage theft child labor violations but needless to say, it will not be easy to rebuild what's been broken. Finally, I have to read something I never imagined addressing in a hearing for secretary of labor. In January, this department's official account posted a video captioned, one homeland, one people, one heritage, remember who you are, American. Historians immediately recognized the echo of the Nazi slogan, one people, one realm, one leader. Nobody had to squint to make that connection. You mmm leaders condemned that. Your own career employees called it disturbing. And that was not a one-off, it's been a pattern. Under your leadership, this department posts constant propaganda about Americanism. You decry globalism and make misleading comments about native-born workers. It is so apparent this department is posting this kind of garbage as a wink and nod to extremists and to get a rise out of everyone else who is paying attention. But you need to hear it from somebody. This kind of language and imagery is a disgrace. Mister Sonderling, Frances Perkins, the woman who we can thank for the minimum wage, for the forty hour work week, for social security, she built this department to stop employers with records like yours. So I'll close with this. The four million workers whose overtime you shut the door on didn't get a vote on that policy. But I have a vote here in the Senate. And I fear any vote to confirm you is for more of the same, to strip overtime protections for our workers, to undercut our unions, and to let giant corporations get away with robbery, literally. America does need a Labor Secretary who understands our workers, who should not be denied overtime pay or who will be pros- who will who will prosecute wage theft and chiber- child labor violations who believes we should increase the minimum wage, who understands America is way overdue for a national paid leave program, and who will stand up every minute for every worker's right to form a union. That is just where I stand. Thank you, Senator Castigo.

We are, will now proceed. We are joined today by Keith Sonderling, nominee for Secretary of Department of Labor. He is currently the Acting Secretary of Labor and was confirmed as Deputary Deputy Secretary of Labor last year. He'll be introduced by his home state senators, Senator Rick Scott and Senator Ashley Moody of Florida, both of Florida. With that, I yield to my colleague, Senator Moody.

I was gonna defer to my senior senator to go first.

All right. Well, thank you.

You're welcome.

Uh.

If you have less hair, you get to go first.

Thank you. Well, first off, um, first off, uh, uh, Chairman, uh, Cassidy and Ranking Member Murray. Uh, thank you, Senator Moody. It's an honor to be here in front of this important committee. So I want it's an honor to be here to introduce a friend of mine. and the fellow authority in Keith Sonderling uh to this committee. A little over a year ago, this committee voted to advance Keith Sonderling to be the deputy secretary of labor. At that time I expressed my utmost confidence in Keith to fulfill the role of deputy secretary. The results speak for themselves, and he is without a doubt qualified to serve as the next secretary of labor. Throughout his career, Keith has proven time and again his deep respect for the rule of law and standing up for the American worker. He is committed to making America the best place to get a job. Fourteen years ago, I was honored to appoint Keith to serve on the Florida Judicial Nominee Commission when I was Governor. Throughout his tenure, he thoroughly vetted a record number of judicial candidates to serve on Florida's most important appellate benches. Following his service to the people of Florida, Keith took opportunities to serve all Americans in the federal government. During President Trump's first term, he served at the Department of Labor where he oversaw a record number of enforcement actions. Keith's exceptional record in work ethic later later led President Trump to nominate him to serve as commissioner of the Equal Opportunity Commission. Equal Op- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Through Keith's work to protect every American who came before the commission from arbitrary and illegal discrimination in the workplace. He has served faithfully, earned the respect of his employees, wisely managed its fourteen billion dollar budget, and enforced over a hundred and eighty laws to protect the American worker. During this transitional period where he served as Acting Secretary, he embraced the role of, he embraced the role confidently, providing stability and steadying leadership. He's gone above and beyond to reach out to Americans and provide them with guidance and resources to navigate our country's labor laws. As long as I've known him, Keith has served the hardworking people of Florida and this country with distinction, and there is no one I know more qualified to be the next Secretary of Labor. I urge all the members of this committee to favor report him to the full Senate so that we can swiftly confirm him. Thank you, Mister Chairman, Ranking Member, and good luck, Keith.

Senator Moody.

Thank you. Thank you for being here, uh, Senator Scott. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, it is my great honor, uh, to introduce one of Florida's own. Uh, not just a a Florida citizen and one of, uh, my constituents, but, uh, a University of Florida Gator Coach gets upset when I do that. But we're gonna do it anyway. UF alumni, Blue Key alumni, and I am told, Mr. Chairman, that there is a slew of florida gators in the audience can you guys stand up so i can see you i don't know maybe a little gator chop for the for the pictures good to see you thank you for being here to support he

the committee will be adjourned

he always tries to hold me in contempt but i was a judge and i used to teach contempt

like today i'm a big lsu tiger fan chairman

i have unknown keith for some time and can confidently say he is more than qualified to be our nation's secretary of labor uh under his leadership the department is putting workers and American industry first. He has been aggressively pursuing workforce development and pro-growth regulatory reforms. He's collaborated with other agencies to break the fraud economy across the nation and cut down on wasteful spending. He's helped ensure our job numbers continue to beat expectations. I have to personally say as AG I had to litigate to push back against the last administration who tried to overrule our policymakers our people and some of our laws. file suit as Attorney General, I can say uh without a doubt he um came in, understood our concerns, got right to work to determine what was best for Florida, and respecting our legislature's on behalf of the people's ability to determine what is best for our state and our citizens. I am confident he is the leader the Department of Labor needs to meet the moment, strengthen our workforce, support our economy, restore prosperity. Uh, I wanna thank his wife, Farah, his parents, Barbara and Howard, Being here today, I can honestly say I have watched him in his prior roles. He is the type of individual that doesn't seek fanfare or self-promotion. He just puts his head down and does the work, good work, and I have often found over the course of my career when I'm talking to o- to others, opportunity often follows. And I think that this is a great example of that. Keith, um, our state is proud of you, our un- university is proud of you. I know those in the audience are here with you to support you, are are are proud of you, and I know that your approach to this position is informed by many things, not just your education or your professional experience, but your family relationships and hearing some of the comments and introduction. I know both of your grandparents were Holocaust survivors that that that leads you and inspires you in your work on behalf of workers that came here to the United States. I hope you'll elaborate on that a little bit for the information and um consideration of all of my colleagues here today. So thank you. Good luck. We

With that we'll begin questioning, I will defer to Senator Collins, whoops.

I'm gonna get this up. No, do my own. His, oh, oh wait, I'm

Sorry. Um, I just I just texted my staff for a cup of real coffee. Now you understand why. So, Mr. Sondland, your opening statement, I'm sorry.

Oh, well thank you to Senator Scott and Senator Moody for that very kind introduction. Uh, Chairman Cassidy, uh, Senator Murray, and members of the committee, uh, it's an honor to once again appear before you for the third time, this time as President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor. Every member of this committee can agree on one thing. American workers are the best in the world. And they deserve a labor department that is effective, accountable, and responsive to their needs. Serving the American people at the Department of Labor has been the greatest honor of my life. It would not have been possible without President Trump's vision and leadership. I am grateful for the trust he has placed in me and for the opportunity to serve American workers, retirees, unions, and job creators. Above all, I want to thank my family, my wife, Farrah, our two boys, Spencer and Barron, and my parents, Howard and Barbara. Before public service, I practiced labor and employment law in Florida. I saw firsthand how the department's policies impact workers and businesses. I then joined President Trump's administration in twenty seventeen as a senior policy advisor at the Department of Labor. There, I learned the mission from the ground up, benefiting every day from the knowledge, experience, and dedication of my colleagues. Over time, I was entrusted with increasing responsibility. eventually leading one of the department's largest enforcement agencies. President Trump later nominated me as a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where I served until twenty twenty four. I also taught the laws of the department enforcers as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School. I then led President Trump's labor transition team before returning to the department on inauguration day. Few people have had the opportunity to experience the department from so many different perspectives, from the outside in private practice, as a policy advisor, as an agency head, as an adjunct professor, as deputy secretary, as acting secretary, and now as the nominee for labor secretary. These experiences have prepared me to lead this department with a deep understanding of its mission, its people, and most importantly, the Americans we serve. The story of the American worker is the story of America itself. As we celebrate two hundred and fifty years of American independence, we honor the men and women who built our nation. And thanks to President Trump's leadership, the American worker is once again the center of the nation's economic agenda. Since President Trump took office, more than nine hundred thousand private sector jobs have been created. Wages are rising. four O one Ks have reached record highs and more Americans are working today than at any time in our nation's history. President Trump promised to re-industrialize America and transform our economy. Now, trillions of dollars in new investments are revitalizing manufacturing, rebuilding our infrastructure, expanding domestic energy production, increasing our shipbuilding capacity, and positioning the United States to lead in biotechnology, AI, and quantum computing. The working families tax cuts are delivering for American workers. No tax on tips and no tax on overtimes are putting thousands of dollars back into the pockets of the hard-working Americans who keep this country running. As promised, President Trump's pro-growth agenda is creating unprecedented opportunities for American workers through manufacturing expansion and business investment. My responsibility is to ensure the American workforce has the skills to seize the opportunities while protecting their safety, while protecting their wages, and while protecting their retirement benefits. Under President Trump's leadership, we are restoring compliance assistance, pursuing rulemaking that replaces uncertainty with clarity, expanding retirement investment opportunities, promoting competition in prescription drug pricing, and helping more Americans start families. And as a member of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, I've worked directly with Vice President Vance to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, ensuring that taxpayer dollars serve Americans and not fraudsters. President Trump has always understood the American people are the foundation of our nation's strength and prosperity. And thanks to President Trump, the world once again knows that the American worker is our greatest competitive advantage. I am grateful for the trust the President has placed in me, and for the opportunity to help fulfill his promise to all Americans, you have my commitment that I will continue working every day to faithfully carry out the mission that has guided my service at the department since my first day, nearly a decade ago. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

Thank you. And now again, I will defer to Senator Collins to open question.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, welcome.

Thank you.

Senator Kane and I have introduced the Religious Workforce Protection Act to allow foreign-born religious workers in the United States to continue to perform their essential work in communities across our nation. Our bill is narrow. It would allow the extension of temporary R one status, for religious workers past five years until he or she receives a decision on the permanent e b four visa application. Unfortunately, under an interpretation, and I realize this is by the State Department, in twenty twenty three many religious workers have to leave our country and the communities they serve for at least one year, for returning to their spiritual service. In Maine, local communities have faced challenges because of this policy. Of the fifty Catholic parishes in Maine, thirty-five benefit from the ministry of priests from other countries. Recently, three Catholic parishes in rural Maine communities, Sainte-Gate, Buxtehude, and Greenville were left without any priests for months. Many different faith organizations have endorsed our legislation, including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the National Association of the Evangelicals. Important, our bill does not allow entry for any person who is not already permitted under the law to enter the United States. Under your leadership, would the Department of Labor support this much needed tar- targeted change in policy?

Well, well thank you uh for the question, and obviously religious workers are our workers too. And you have my full commitment, and I understand there's a shortage in some of the workforce when it also comes um, to uh to um religious workers.

Thank you very much. You have previously shared with the committee that your parents survived the Holocaust, as Senator Mooney mentioned. But you've also told us that they later lost out unemployment opportunities based solely on their religious beliefs. What role do you believe the Department of Labor should take in protecting American workers against religious discrimination?

Uh, it it's a very important role for the federal government to play, to protect workers and religions of all faiths. And that's what you have my commitment to do. We've been doing that significantly. We set up a center for faith at the Department of Labor. were the first time we've made a website with all fifty states. And you can click on your state and see what your religious protections are, to see if you are discriminated in the workplace, where you can come and get the DOL resources, get the EEOC resources or state resources. But my family's personal story, as you heard, uh, both my grandparents, uh, were Holocaust survivors. They came over here before some of these, um, laws, uh, were in place, and they were discriminated based upon that, and weren't given the employment opportunities that others were going. solely based upon their religion and unfortunately we still see that today. And that's a very important role that that we have, you know, in this administration to root out all religious bias, including antisemitism. Uh, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission continues, um, to bring those cases. We put out more guidance, uh, for religious workers to be able to come forward. Also, too, it's religious discrimination if religious organizations can't get the same federal services that other organizations could get. So, um, we've reversed some of the policies. from the body of administration that discourage that and uh in our funding agreements that go out. We make sure that religious organizations too know that they're going to be on equal footing to other types of organizations even though they're religious organizations to participate in federal government programs. So it's very important to me, it's very important to the president, he's issued exer- actually executive orders on antisemitism, on anti-Christian bias, and and on religious discrimination as a whole, and we will prosecute those cases as equally as we will any other case.

Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Um, finally, and I'm almost out of time uh time, uh, I had numerous disputes with your predecessor over Job Corps. Job Corps has been an enormously successful program that has truly changed the lives of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving them the skills, the sense of belonging, uh, the confidence that they need to be And as you know, under your predecessor, the two job corps, Centers in Main, Pa- ha- were forced to pause their enrollment. Uh, they now have restarted up and they truly have been so successful. But I wanna just, I'll submit my, um, question for the record, but I just want you to be aware of a bill that Senator Jack Reed and I introduced. uh that would provide greater alignment between the jobs that are available in the defense industry and the skills that job corps is uh teaching. It ensures automatic employment for job corps graduates who can choose to go into the workforce, the military, or continue with higher education.

A- and briefly,

I'll submit it

we we talked about this at the budget hearing, I think you and I are gonna go to a job course center in maine in august together so i look forward to continue to working with you and working with that legislation

thank you thank you mr. jim

it's a veteran senator who starts her final statement with seven seconds left and then goes a minute more

sorry i apologize i really do

senator murray

thank you um acting secretary sonderling right now you are working with secretary mcmahon to take over the department of education programs uh to help trump abolish that department It makes zero sense that DOL, an agency whose expertise is in supporting wage earners and job seekers, that it's being tasked now with taking over complex education programs from the Department of Education to help kindergartners and elementary school students. Do you know how many programs at the Department of Labor are focused on elementary school students?

Uh, I can tell you that it makes a lot of sense for us to work with the Department of Education. you know, the education system needs to be able to.

I asked you a specific question, I have very little time, so do you know how many programs?

We have our IAA agreements under the Economy Act that uh allows us to provide services to the Department of Education.

I'm asking if you know how many are focused at, well I'll tell you, the answer is none, none of them. And that is concerning because while some offices within your department are taking on a set of responsibilities they have no experience dealing with, they're also struggling to manage their own grant programs. As recently as this last January, a report from the DOL general noted the employment and training administration is quote " challenged in effectively managing its grant portfolio". Uh, so Acting Secretary Sonderling, do you believe it's Smart management's decision to add more grant responsibilities to an agency that is consistently unable to handle those tasks?

I I think it makes a lot of sense. Our systems at the Department of Labor are more sophisticated. Based on prior reports and implementing um those recommendations, They're on a legacy G five system. We use grant solutions, which is the same system that we owe a title funds are distributed both from the labor side and from the education side to the same states and from an efficiency standpoint from the states who take this money, they're used to having to go to education and labor. The IAA is not dealing with policy. It's dealing with providing the department of education a service. And and I can tell you that the department of education career staff have been detailed to the department of labor and they're making those changes.

Well Uh, let me, Let me just say, let me just say, uh, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I appreciate smart new reforms, I appreciate smart new reforms, but I, but I, the facts are that these arrangements have been very wasteful. the facts are that these arrangements have been very wasteful. One of them cost taxpayers. One of them cost taxpayers. an extra million dollars and the rest the administration has refused now to tell us for months how much they cost or or really anything else despite bipartisan demands for that information and it's not working in one case ed transferred responsibilities to you only for you to have that to have to send that back to another department because dol lacked the expertise to handle it so badly

uh on july first at midnight one point five billion dollars came over to the department of labor it was out by one two in the morning there was no lack the money went out to the states um in our updated system and the department of labor will continue to provide those services under the iias which are lawful under the economies act and also uh is most efficient for taxpayers and the states getting these money so i i stand by these

well i would just say again uh uh i'm i just have to tell you americans want an agency that is focused on the education of early learners all the way through they don't want it shuffled off to another department that they can't find out the information or don't have the expertise to do it. That's my opinion.

Understood.

Let me move on here, cuz I just have a minute left. The labor department founding mission is quote, to promote the welfare of wage earners. You've run this department for three months, and in that time you formalized taking overtime away from four million people, moved to cut care workers minimum wage, teed up longer hours for fourteen year olds, and defended a budget that leaves workers in the dust. So let me be ver- a very specific question. On July second of last year, DOL proposed a new rule about wages and overtime pay for home care workers. If this draft rule is finalized, how many workers will be stripped of minimum wage and overtime pr- protections?

Yeah, this is a a very complicated issue that we've worked on for a long time. And the the the current rule, you know, has essentially created a secondary market where workers are not getting overtime, they're not getting protections, those who are, you know, um receiving the services or going through companies to get the proper background checks so this rule will allow third parties to come back in to properly manage the payroll to properly manage their ability to do uh back background checks and have more workers in continuity of care

well it you didn't answer my question

what the the prior rule did was it it chopped up the people weren't getting overtime

well let

when forty hours hit they would get a different person and that worked efficiently

i'm out of time and i'm gonna correct the record here because if if if this draft rule is finalized which is what my question was to you it is three point seven million workers, uh, home care workers who will be stripped of minimum wage and overtime protections. That's how many home care workers the department is ripping away minimum wage and overtime protections from. And, Mr. Chairman, to me that is anti-worker. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator.

Uh, I will defer to Senator Marshall.

Well, thank you, Chairman. I wanna start, uh, w- of course welcoming uh Sec- Secretary Sundling's thank you for being here as well. I wanna start by just chatting about what i consider one of the greatest pro-worker agendas that we've ever seen accomplish over the last two years the working family tax cuts bill with republicans only votes, uh no taxes on tip, no taxes on overtime, absolutely pro-worker. We've seen great private private sector job growth, six hundred thousand private sector job growths. Because of the president's trade and tariff policies, we're bringing jobs back home, and manufacturing is great again. And one of the big pro-agent, pro-worker agenda I've seen is um an emphasis on apprenticeships and workforce Pell grant maybe just speak a moment, did I miss anything in that agenda?

You did, there's so much. The working family tax cuts uh passed by uh by this edit and promoted by the president, um has just done so much for the American workers. Most people on TV hear no tax on tips, no tax on overtimes, which is great, but there's so many other beneficial provisions to workers, and you can break it down in two ways. ones of how we create more jobs and get more hours so the hundred percent uh deduction on new equipment is allowing companies to buy new state of the art safe equipment install them be more productive take a hundred percent tax credit that year freeing up money they would be paying in taxes to hire more workers to give to uh more overtime um in addition to the depreciation on expanding american manufacturing um no uh interest on the loans on the cars bought in america so so many other great things on the the business side but really for the workers um you hit the nail on the head when it comes to workforce.

there's something else a big priority for you and me our our tech colleges our community colleges and the flexibility in the pell grants apprenticeships maybe just speak about the priority and what the future looks like for those.

yeah and also using being able to use five twenty nine accounts for vocational schools for registered apprenticeships um that otherwise were locked up in those four year degrees and that's gonna allow certificate programs eight to fifteen weeks where we know there's a lot of jobs and that's been a cost prohibition for a lot of employees because they can't afford those certificates, they weren't able to get financial aid, now workforce pal's allowed to do that, but ultimately it leads into the word apartment wants to go, to fill all these jobs that president trump has created is through registered apprenticeships. You know getting people in out of high school into high paying, high skilled registered apprenticeships, working with local community colleges, and we see community colleges as one of the biggest pieces of this puzzle, to be able to help employers, help small businesses design the curriculum to get workers right out of high school um into the trades and also have them design design those uh courses so uh thanks to the working families tax cuts uh we've just seen so many benefits continue to benefit the american worker not just putting more money in their pocket but also creating opportunities that didn't exist before so thank you for

if if senator moody can can uh bore us with her gator chop i wanna give a go grizzly sign for the my alma mater community college butler county community college back home that my wife and i graduated from. We don't have a chop or anything, but go Grizzlies. Uh, there, I got a one-off issue I, I promised I would run by you from our state treasurer back home, Steven Johnson, a good friend of mine. Um, and I, I have not brought this to your attention. You're welcome to follow up. But retirement plans lose track of their people sometimes. And a person hits the age of sixty-five, the retirement plan can't find the person. Somewhere four or five years ago we decided the state should figure this out. and there was a rule drafted in twenty twenty three that was never finished and and unfortunately they had a lower cap of a thousand dollars which is uh artificially low i'm asking you to commit to finishing the rule surrounding this hopefully with no cap so the stars can start working on getting people's money back to them

this is an important issue because you're talking about retirees who have vested in their four one k's but forgot they worked at the company for god they ever had it and it may be around two trillion dollars out there of vested retirees who are not being able to find where their four O and K's are. So, uh, the department is really looking at this. Um, we're looking at ways to work with employers to come to us. We have a lost and found website where somebody can go type in their employer and see if they had a four O one K there. But that takes the employer giving us that information. That takes working with the plan sponsors and saying, give us your roles of who your, um,

Well, you'll commit to, to finishing the role.

participants are. I will commit to that and we will look at that to minimus exception too. But the most important thing is we need businesses to have a safe harbor to be able to give that information.

Wait a minute. I got one thirty seconds left. I wanna touch um ESOPs, franchises and unions. OK?

Thirty seconds.

Um So I I I don't know. Any any thoughts? You know, I we we wanna Republicans are trying so hard to be pro-union. I was raised in a union town. Just just speak what you can do to help union workers back back home. What what's your vision to help those folks out?

Well, union workers are American workers and they're also the backbone of our country. So we continue um to make policies to make sure that um other industries um are also getting into registered apprenticeships which unions have done very well and i've talked to all the major union leaders seeing what they do to how they get so many people in the trades how many they get so many people into high paying high skilled jobs i'm trying to take that model and work with other industries and they're they're very open to working together because they want the american workforce to succeed they want it to be with american workers and all the new jobs the president has created you know we're all gonna work together to put the american worker uh first in that equation and i see both support from unions and management on that

i don't have time to ask you about esops and franchises but we'll um we'll keep having those conversations too as priorities thank you chairman

thank you

yes sir senator kane

mr. chair good to see you again mr. sonderling um first uh congratulations to the committee i don't want it to go unnoticed that the the older americans act reauthorization passed the senate floor couple days ago we worked on it like a year and a half ago Um, and it got held up at the end of the last Congress that it passed out of the Senate a couple days ago. We all worked pretty hard on that. Hopefully the House will act. Um, Mr. Sonderling, your testimony is, as I would expect, I, uh, very positive about the state of the economy and the Trump administration's accomplishments. People don't like being told everything's great when their lives are telling them otherwise. And I just got to put on the record, a Gallup poll in May showed that confidence in the economy is at its lowest in the last five years. Um, and the Gallup poll suggested seventy-six percent of American adults think the economy is getting worse and twenty percent think it's getting better. So I guess it's getting better for twenty percent or they think it is, but to tell three quarters of the American public everything's rosy and everything's going well, it just just doesn't square. It's got, there's a punch line to an old joke, what are you gonna believe, you know, me or your own eyes? People's own eyes are telling them this economy isn't working. And in, and that was a poll in May and I would venture to suggest it's gotten worse since. Um, polling, uh, not polling data just came out that says, for example, Virginians have paid a billion eight more in gasoline uh, since the war in Iran began on February twenty eighth, than they would have paid had we not started a foolish war and led to the closing of the Straits of Hormuz. And it's not just gas, it's, it's inflation on everyday goods and groceries and that was the the the data in the gallop poll about why people are feeling bad so i i know that folks with the administration are are duty bound and i would expect that i probably do the same thing of you know putting the best face on the evidence but i just have to say that uh the american public is is feeling the evidence and they're feeling really sour about the american economy right now i i noticed yesterday the president restarted tariff imposition and he started brazil cause he doesn't like the fact that brazil is prosecuting a friend of his brazil is a nation where we have trade surplus not a trade deficit so it's odd that the president is deciding i wanna put tariffs on brazilian products when we've got a surplus with them here's what i wanna ask you about the department of education has entered into fourteen inter-agency agreements and senator murray talked to you about them last year states including virginia reported a lot of funding delays and administrative confusion following the transfer of the career in technical education um services to dol. And months later the department of ed decided to move k twelve and other higher ed programs to the dol. Now, just the magnitude of these programs, nine point eight million kids in rural schools, five million English language learners, one point one million students who are uh experiencing homelessness, six hundred thousand native students, Twenty six million kids in title in schools that are title one schools, which are about eighty percent of the school districts in the country. That's all been foisted over onto the Department of Labor. That was not your choice. That was the the the president's choice. But as the nominee to be secretary of labor, can you tell me there's some foundational pillars for the IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. Do you know what those foundational pillars are?

Um, I do not, that's a Department of Education

Right.

um program, but I would um to the extent we have the administration um duties to administer that to the states,

Yeah, well let let me let me

I would rely on the current education staff who's housed in DOL now to make those admissions.

Yeah, let me I got you, but let let let me tell you what the pillars are,

Sure.

OK? Because this is something that some think should be pushed over to DOL. The pillars of the IDA are free appropriate public education, least restrictive environment, individualized education plan, appropriate evaluation, parent student participation, and procedural safeguards. And these are not minor matters to parents who have kids with disabilities. I have a letter, Mister Chair, that I'd like to introduce into the record, and it's a letter signed by individuals who served in nine Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, including President Trump's first term, who were responsible for overseeing the implementation of the IDEA. saying that they do not think it should be moved out of the department of education if i could submit it for the run.

without objection