Eugene Scalia


Eugene Scalia is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 28th United States Secretary of Labor since September 30, 2019. He was formerly a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; and previously served one year in the Department of Labor during the George W. Bush administration. He is a son of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
In July 2019, President Donald Trump nominated him to become the next secretary of labor, and he was confirmed by the Senate on September 26. Scalia was sworn in on September 30, 2019.

Personal life

Scalia was born on August 14, 1963, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Antonin Scalia and Maureen Scalia. He attended the University of Virginia where he graduated with distinction with a major in economics, along with a minor in political science. He then attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review and graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree.
As of 2019, Scalia and his wife Patricia have seven children.

Career

During 1985–1987 he was an aide to Education Secretary William J. Bennett. During 1992–1993 he served as Special Assistant to Attorney General William P. Barr. Scalia was in private practice in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, California. In 2000, his firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represented George W. Bush before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore.
He served as the Solicitor of Labor, having been appointed by President Bush in April 2001 and taken the position in January 2002 following a recess appointment. At the time, he was accused by Democratic Senators and labor groups of being hostile to workers and criticized for his articles criticizing ergonomics. But a group of former career officials within the Department of Labor have since described Scalia as having been "very supportive of enforcement litigation to vindicate the rights of workers, both at the trial and appellate levels". In 2019, The New York Times wrote that Scalia "is perhaps best known for his opposition to a regulation that would have mandated greater protections for workers at risk of repetitive stress injuries". The regulation was repealed by Congress in 2001.
During his career in private practice, Scalia has sustained a long record of defending major corporations against financial and labor regulations. Since 2003, he has defended Wall Street firms against financial oversight. A 2012 Bloomberg News article that profiled Scalia was headlined, "Suing the Government? Call Scalia!"
Scalia argued for the plaintiffs in Wal-Mart v. Maryland in July 2006, which invalidated a state law under which large companies with at least 10,000 employees would have been required to spend at least 8% of their payroll on employee healthcare.
On July 18, 2019, President Trump announced he would nominate Scalia to be the next Secretary of Labor. On September 26, 2019, the Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 53–44. Scalia was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on September 30.
Scalia's belief that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has no role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been credited with exacerbating the failure to control the disease. His initiatives are said to be not meant to protect workers, but instead to safeguard the industries favorable to the Republican Party.