Keith Sonderling Faces Questions on Contractor Rules, Data Access, Veterans and Worker Safety at HELP Hearing

Keith Sonderling, President Trump’s nominee to be deputy secretary of labor, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee for a confirmation hearing in which senators pressed him on independent-contractor and joint-employer rules, Department of Labor staffing and layoffs, access to agency data by outside entities, discrimination enforcement and OFCCP authority, apprenticeships and workforce training, and workplace safety enforcement.

Sonderling described the deputy secretary’s role as chief operating officer of a department that manages about 17,000 employees and a roughly $14,000,000,000 budget and said that if confirmed he would review rules the department has issued and follow legal standards approved by courts. “You have my absolute commitment, not just with this rule, but every rule we do at the Department of Labor will be clear and understandable,” Sonderling told the committee…