WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are ramping up pressure on President-elect Joe Biden to nominate an Asian American or Pacific Islander Cabinet secretary, intensifying the contest for Labor secretary that national union leaders had hoped would go to Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh.
Walsh, a former union president and longtime Biden ally, has reportedly been in contention with California’s labor secretary, Julie Su, for the Department of Labor post. A Walsh spokesman on Monday declined to comment on reports that the mayor and Su were the two finalists. Su’s office declined to comment.
Biden’s incoming administration includes three top Asian American or Pacific Islander Cabinet members, including Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, whose late mother was from India, as well as the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the US Trade Representative. But none would be represented among the 15 secretaries that serve as heads of executive branch departments.
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