Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Pages S5650-S5651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the next nomination.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of David
Fabian Black, of North Dakota, to be Deputy Commissioner of Social
Security for a term expiring January 19, 2025 (Reappointment).
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I oppose the nomination of David Black
to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security. I have longstanding
concerns about how management at the Social Security Administration has
treated the unions representing their workforce, and I am concerned
about the role that Mr. Black may have played in these anti-union
practices.
SSA was especially hostile towards its workers when it implemented
the anti-union Executive orders that President Trump issued on May 25,
2018. SSA was one of the few agencies to evict unions from office space
pursuant to the Executive orders, in the brief time before a Federal
district court issued an injunction blocking key parts of the Executive
orders. SSA also abrogated its unexpired contract with administrative
law judges who are represented by the International Federation of
Professional and Technical Engineers, which even the Executive orders
themselves expressly prohibited.
After the Executive orders were blocked in court, SSA went to the
Federal Service Impasses Panel to impose a contract on workers
represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, and the
terms of this contract were highly similar to provisions of the
Executive orders. SSA is now using similar tactics against workers
represented by National Treasury Employees Union.
We need to stop a bad situation from getting worse. The Senate should
demand stronger commitments to improve labor relations from President
Trump's nominees for leadership positions at SSA.
[[Page S5651]]
When SSA took these anti-union actions, Mr. Black was the White House
senior adviser at the Social Security Administration. Despite Mr.
Black's responsibility for SSA, he claimed in a letter to me that, ``I
was not involved in SSA's implementation of the EOs.''
It is my understanding, however, that there is a pending Freedom of
Information Act request that may shed new light on Mr. Black's
involvement with the Executive orders. SSA has stated that an email
records search generated thousands of emails that need to be reviewed
for pertinence and disclosure in response to the request, and that
review is still ongoing. I certainly hope that SSA's response will
confirm Mr. Black's statement that he was not involved with the
Executive orders, but the Senate should wait until all the facts are in
before moving forward with his confirmation.
For those reasons, I will oppose Mr. Black's nomination at this time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the Black nomination?
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker),
the Senator from California (Ms. Harris), the Senator from Alabama (Mr.
Jones), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from
Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 68, nays 26, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 301 Ex.]
YEAS--68
Alexander
Barrasso
Bennet
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hassan
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
Kennedy
King
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
Manchin
McConnell
McSally
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Paul
Perdue
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Shelby
Sinema
Sullivan
Thune
Toomey
Warner
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--26
Baldwin
Blumenthal
Brown
Cantwell
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Gillibrand
Heinrich
Hirono
Klobuchar
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Schatz
Schumer
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warren
NOT VOTING--6
Booker
Harris
Jones
Sanders
Tillis
Whitehouse
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motions to
reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table and the
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
The Senator from Texas.
____________________
