From: Bloomberg/BNA
PUNCHING IN: LABOR DEPT PERSONNEL MOVES AND MORE
By Chris Opfer and Ben Penn
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But wait, before more bodies arrive at what’s been a short-handed political operation, two of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s existing advisers are playing musical chairs. Effective this morning, Wayne Palmer exited as Acosta’s chief of staff to become acting head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Nicholas Geale, DOL’s acting solicitor since February, replaces Palmer as chief of staff, while concurrently running the solicitor’s office.
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“We’ve gotten a lot accomplished already and we expect to continue to move the ball forward very effectively. More people have been coming on board and we expect to continue accelerating our policy initiatives on behalf of the secretary and the president. Look at our record–fiduciary rule NPRM is at OMB right now, guidance on joint employer has been withdrawn, WHD letters have been reinstated, overtime RFI—the list goes on. A number of regulatory initiatives have been sent to OMB or published over the last couple months, and I expect you’ll see more in the near future.”