The Senate approved former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to lead the Department of Labor, the last of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees, as the chamber prepares to take up a series of measures including gun control, voting rights and infrastructure legislation after a two-week recess.
“His confirmation comes at a critical time for the American labor workforce, with millions of people out of work and facing the loss of jobless benefits,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said of Walsh. “Secretary Walsh supports our unions and will fight to increase the minimum wage.”
In Nevada, the state unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.3 percent in February from 8.5 percent in January, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). The Silver State was tied for the nation’s fifth-highest unemployment rate in February with New Mexico, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLM).
“Broadly, the trend in February remains largely flat, and is similar to what we saw in January, with ongoing significant disruption highly concentrated in the Las Vegas area,” said DETR Chief Economist David Schmidt. The Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise metro area had a 9.9 percent unemployment rate in January, according to BLM.
Walsh, whose nomination was also supported by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) last week, rounded out Biden’s cabinet, which consists of the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments. They include, in order of succession to the presidency: Department of State; Treasury; Defense; Justice; Interior; Agriculture; Labor; Health and Human Services; Housing and Urban Development; Transportation; Energy; Education; Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.
Last week, the Senate also made history when it approved Rachel Levine’s nomination, on a 52 to 48 vote, to be assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services. Levine, who helped lead Pennsylvania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as the state’s secretary of health, is the only openly transgender person ever confirmed by the Senate.
All Senate Democrats, including Rosen and Cortez Masto, voted for Levine, in addition to two Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
The Senate votes came as the House was not in session last week. But members participated remotely in committee hearings.
Gun control
Following the recent shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, which left 10 people dead, and the shooting in Atlanta, which left eight people dead, Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation called on Congress to take up gun control legislation.
“At this juncture, it is hard to find the words,” said Cortez Masto in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “How many more shootings, how many more individuals have to die before we take action?”
She called…
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