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Politico: Biden chooses Boston Mayor Walsh as Labor secretary

Berry Craig
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Thanks to Bill Londrigan for sending us this.

Biden was widely expected to choose a Labor Department head who enjoyed the support of unions, given the president-elect's longstanding ties with labor leaders.

By ELEANOR MUELLER and TYLER PAGER

President-elect Joe Biden has picked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a former top union leader, to serve as his Labor secretary, according to four sources, ending a selection process that split the labor movement and stoked diversity concerns among Democrats.

Walsh beat out a host of other names floated for the position, including Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), former Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris, California Labor Secretary Julie Su and AFL-CIO Chief Economist Bill Spriggs. His selection suggests that Biden was willing to overlook calls for a more diverse choice, since Walsh is a white man, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders had been lobbying heavily for Su. Spriggs is Black.

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