Overview
- Keith Sonderling, who has served as acting Labor secretary since April, testified before the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday and defended moving certain Education Department grant management functions into Labor.
- He said Labor helped disburse $1.5 billion received on July 1 within hours and that Education staff are detailed to Labor to handle policy while Labor provides back-end payments.
- Sonderling pledged an aggressive crackdown on pandemic-era unemployment fraud, urged states to “verify first and pay later,” and described plans for a national fraud database and state verification systems modeled on Alabama.
- He told senators the department is collecting information from employers and unions about AI use so the Bureau of Labor Statistics can guide where to steer job-training funds, and he framed AI as a potential productivity and safety tool.
- Democrats criticized his record on overtime, union strength and contractor nondiscrimination, Republicans praised his experience and stability, and the HELP Committee is scheduled to vote on advancing his nomination on July 23.