Biden selects leaders for Labor, Commerce
Economic teamalso includes pick for SBA
President-elect Joe Biden is set to fill out his economic team by naming Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as his commerce secretary, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh as his labor secretary and Isabel Guzman, a former Obama administration official, as head of the Small Business Administration.
While not as high profile as some other Cabinet positions, the secretaries of labor and commerce wield enormous power, giventheir rolesoverseeing everything from workplace safety to the protection of U.S. industry. And the SBA’s role has grown more important in recent months because it manages several pandemic-related programs aimed at helping small businesses, including the Paycheck Protection Pro
gram.
Biden has said he plans to pursue policies that will increase worker protections, particularly related to workplace oversight during the pandemic, as well as helping minority-owned small businessesweather the economic downturn.
Walsh, 53, led Boston’s powerful Building and Construction Trades Council for two years before winning the 2013 race for mayor with strong backing from organized labor.
If confirmed as labor secretary, Walsh will be charged with reinvigorating the Occupational Safe
ty and Health Administration, which critics have accused of porous workplace oversight during the pandemic.
It would also fall toWalsh to revisit a number of key regulations issued by the Labor Department under President Donald Trump, including a rule that makes it harder for employees of contractors and franchises to recover illegally withheld wages from parent companies when their direct employers lack the resources to make them whole.
Raimondo, 49, a moderate Democrat with a background in the financial industry, has served as Rhode Island’s governor since 2015. She is seen as a relatively traditional choice for commerce secretary, apost thatoverseesnotonly relations with the business community but also technology regulation, weather monitoring and the gathering of economic data, among other duties.
As governor, Raimondo introduced training programs, cut taxes and eliminated regulations, and offered new loans to support businesses.
Raimondo clashed with unions but ultimately found compromise as she overhauled the state pension plan.
Guzman, 49, Biden’s pick to lead the SBA, was a deputy chief of staff at the agency during the Obama administration. Guzman served most recently as a top official at California’s Office of Business and Economic Development and has worked over the past two decades as an adviser to banks and consulting firms, with a focus on entrepreneurship and business development.
Guzman has been amember of Biden’s transition team for the SBA, which has given her an inside view the past few weeks of the agency’s operations and its challenges.