Miami politician asked to lead U.S. jobless programs faces senators’ questions
At the height of a government-induced economic recession to limit the spread of COVID-19, thenMiami state Sen. José Javier Rodríguez was called to Washington and explained how Florida’s unemployment system was illequipped to process and pay out claims. On Thursday, Rodríguez again found himself in front of U.S. senators; this time for his confirmation hearing to lead nationwide unemployment-assistance efforts and job-training programs at the Labor Department.
Rodríguez, who lost his reelection bid last year by 34 votes in a race tainted by the presence of a sham candidate with the same surname, awaits Senate action on his nomination as an assistant labor secretary by President Joe Biden.
The two-hour hearing featured few tough questions, though one Republican asked Rodríguez what he would do to limit fraudulent unemployment claims and another insisted that another unemployment crisis is looming as employers begin to mandate COVID-19 vaccines.
“If confirmed, I hope to serve the many Americans who need and deserve a responsible, modernized workforce system,” Rodríguez said at the hearing. “Federal resources must deliver equitable outcomes from communities most affected by income inequality and poverty.”
CONFIRMATION LIKELY
Rodríguez is likely to win confirmation based on the universally positive response during the hearing from Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Rodríguez doesn’t need GOP support to win confirmation. Assistant secretaries who do not draw significant minority opposition are typically confirmed by voice vote as was former Florida U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who was confirmed unanimously as an assistant education secretary on Wednesday.
But Rodríguez was questioned by Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville on how he plans to minimize fraud in unemployment systems if confirmed to lead the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration, a 1,000-person agency with an $8.6 billion budget.
“I know you’re a big fan of expanding unemployment benefits and want to make sure everyone has access but also know over the past year and a half we saw tons of fraud in unemployment,” Tuberville said, citing a Labor Department Inspector General report that estimated $63 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits since March 2020. “What will you personally do if confirmed?”
Rodríguez said he will work with state-based unemployment systems to improve their security and ability to verify the identities of unemploymentinsurance recipients.
“The pandemic exposed these long-standing challenges in our unemployment system not only in access but security,” Rodríguez said. “The architecture of these systems was outdated and inflexible.”
VACCINE-MANDATE CONCERNS
Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall argued that vaccine mandates, which are expanding throughout the country in the public and private sectors, will lead to another unemployment crisis.
“There is a group of people no matter how much you pontificate that’s not going to get the vaccine,” Marshall said, arguing that some employers in Kansas estimate that 30% to 50% of their workforce will not take a COVID-19 vaccine. “There’s going to be a spike in unemployment.”
Rodríguez responded that he will “carefully monitor” state unemployment systems “to make sure the right people get the right benefits on time.”
Many states will deny unemployment benefits to employees who are fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine.
Rodríguez declined to comment after the hearing, saying he’s not speaking publicly while his confirmation is pending.
If confirmed, Rodríguez’s responsibilities would include federal government job-training programs, worker-dislocation programs, grants to states for employment-service programs and unemploymentinsurance benefits.