Senate to vote today on Walsh’s labor nom
Janey poised to take over as mayor
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh is one Senate vote away from becoming President Biden’s new labor secretary and come Tuesday, there could be a new mayor in town.
Walsh is expected to be confirmed as President Biden’s labor secretary in a vote tonight and will likely tender his resignation to the city clerk shortly after, according to an aide.
The Senate is expected to resume consideration of the nomination at about 3 p.m. today with a final vote to be taken at 5:30 p.m., according to the congressional record.
Biden picked Walsh on Jan. 7 as his nominee for secretary of the Labor Department, choosing the one-time union boss to oversee the federal department in charge of workplace policies. Walsh sailed through a confirmation hearing a month later, facing few tough questions and earning bipartisan
praise. He’s expected to easily win approval by the full Senate, ending his seven-year tenure as Boston mayor.
Depending on the timing of the vote, a spokeswoman for Walsh’s office said the outgoing mayor plans to give a farewell address to residents.
With the outgoing mayor preparing to depart for his new job in Washington come Tuesday, City Council President Kim Janey is poised to take over as acting mayor. She’ll be the city’s first woman and first Black person to serve as the city’s chief executive.
“It’s surreal,” Janey said during a Sunday appearance on WCVB’s “CityLine.”
The Boston native and Roxbury resident said she’ll be able to bring a “unique perspective” to the role as someone who grew up “in poverty.”
“My mom was on welfare and food stamps when we were growing up. My first apartment as a young single mom myself was a Section 8 apartment. Now to be in a position to bring that lesson to the city as we think about policy and all the ways that we need to serve the residents of the city of Boston, I think, is pretty powerful,” Janey said.
She said it’s “truly exciting” and is “humbled” by the opportunity to serve as the city’s 55th mayor and the first African-American and woman in the office’s 200-year history.
Janey’s “immediate focus” as she takes the corner office will be responding to the coronavirus and she’s been attending transition briefings for weeks to make sure she’s ready, she said.
“I think about this in terms of recovery, reopening and renewal. With recovery, we have to continue to make sure we are listening to the science, listening to the data, that we are rolling out the vaccine in a way that is equitable,” Janey said.
Janey will serve on an interim basis until November’s election when voters choose a permanent replacement.
City Councilors Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi-George and Michelle Wu, state Rep. Jon Santiago and former city economic development chief John Barros are all running to be mayor.
Janey will make a decision “soon,” she said Sunday, on whether she will run.
State Sen. Nick Collins and former city equity chief Karilyn Crockett are considering bids, too.