United States Secretary of Labor

United States Secretary of Labor
United States Secretary of Labor
	Seal of the department
	Flag of the secretary
	Incumbent; Julie Su; Acting since March 11, 2023
	United States Department of Labor
Style	Madam Secretary (informal); The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Frances Perkins Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President of the United States; with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	29 U.S.C. § 551
Precursor	Secretary of Commerce and Labor
Formation	March 4, 1913; 111 years ago
First holder	William B. Wilson
Succession	Eleventh
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Labor
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I
Website	dol.gov

The United States secretary of labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies.

Formerly, there was a Department of Commerce and Labor. That department split into two in 1913. The Department of Commerce is headed by the secretary of commerce.

Secretary of labor is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule,^[2] thus earning a salary of $221,400 as of January 2021.^[3]

Julie Su has been serving as acting secretary since the resignation of Marty Walsh on March 11, 2023.

List of secretaries of labor

Parties

Democratic (13) Republican (16)

Status

Acting Secretary of Labor

No.	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office
1	William B. Wilson	Pennsylvania	March 6, 1913	March 4, 1921	Woodrow Wilson
2	James J. Davis	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1921	November 30, 1930	Warren G. Harding
					Calvin Coolidge
					Herbert Hoover
3	William N. Doak	Virginia	December 9, 1930	March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
4	Frances Perkins	New York	March 4, 1933	June 30, 1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt
4	Frances Perkins	New York	March 4, 1933	June 30, 1945	Harry S. Truman
5	Lewis B. Schwellenbach	Washington	July 1, 1945	June 10, 1948
6	Maurice J. Tobin	Massachusetts	August 13, 1948	January 20, 1953
7	Martin P. Durkin	Maryland	January 21, 1953	September 10, 1953	Dwight D. Eisenhower
8	James P. Mitchell	New Jersey	October 9, 1953	January 20, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
9	Arthur Goldberg	Illinois	January 21, 1961	September 20, 1962	John F. Kennedy
10	W. Willard Wirtz	Illinois	September 25, 1962	January 20, 1969	John F. Kennedy
10	W. Willard Wirtz	Illinois	September 25, 1962	January 20, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
11	George P. Shultz	Illinois	January 22, 1969	July 1, 1970	Richard Nixon
12	James D. Hodgson	California	July 2, 1970	February 1, 1973
13	Peter J. Brennan	New York	February 2, 1973	March 15, 1975
13	Peter J. Brennan	New York	February 2, 1973	March 15, 1975	Gerald Ford
14	John T. Dunlop	Massachusetts	March 18, 1975	January 31, 1976
15	William Usery Jr.	Georgia	February 10, 1976	January 20, 1977
16	Ray Marshall	Texas	January 27, 1977	January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
17	Raymond J. Donovan	New Jersey	February 4, 1981	March 15, 1985	Ronald Reagan
18	Bill Brock	Tennessee	April 29, 1985	October 31, 1987
19	Ann Dore McLaughlin	District of Columbia	December 17, 1987	January 20, 1989
20	Elizabeth Dole	Kansas	January 25, 1989	November 23, 1990	George H. W. Bush
21	Lynn M. Martin	Illinois	February 22, 1991	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
22	Robert Reich	Massachusetts	January 22, 1993	January 20, 1997	Bill Clinton
23	Alexis Herman	Alabama	May 1, 1997	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
24	Elaine Chao	Kentucky	January 29, 2001	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
–	Howard Radzely	Pennsylvania	January 20, 2009	February 2, 2009	Barack Obama
–	Ed Hugler	Pennsylvania	February 2, 2009	February 24, 2009
25	Hilda Solis	California	February 24, 2009	January 22, 2013
–	Seth Harris	New York	January 22, 2013	July 23, 2013
26	Tom Perez	Maryland	July 23, 2013	January 20, 2017
–	Ed Hugler	Pennsylvania	January 20, 2017	April 27, 2017	Donald Trump
27	Alexander Acosta	Florida	April 28, 2017	July 19, 2019
–	Patrick Pizzella	Virginia	July 20, 2019	September 30, 2019
28	Eugene Scalia	Virginia	September 30, 2019	January 20, 2021
–	Al Stewart	Virginia	January 20, 2021	March 23, 2021	Joe Biden
29	Marty Walsh	Massachusetts	March 23, 2021	March 11, 2023
–	Julie Su	California	March 11, 2023	Incumbent

Line of succession

The line of succession for the Secretary of Labor is as follows:^[4]

Deputy Secretary of Labor
Solicitor of Labor
Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management
Assistant Secretary for Policy
Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training
Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security
Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health
Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Chief Financial Officer
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division
Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training
Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy
Deputy Solicitor of Labor (First Assistant of the Solicitor of Labor)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy (First Assistant of the Assistant Secretary for Policy)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs (First Assistant of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training (First Assistant of the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy (First Assistant of the Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health (First Assistant of the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health (First Assistant of the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health)
Regional Solicitor—Dallas
Regional Administrator for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management—Region VI/Dallas

Secretary succession

If none of the above officials are available to serve as Acting Secretary of Labor, the Designated Secretarial Designee assumes interim operational control over the Department, except the Secretary's non-delegable responsibilities.

Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Director of the Women's Bureau
Regional Administrator, Employment and Training Administration—Dallas
Regional Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration—Dallas

References

^ 3 U.S.C. § 19, Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act
^ 5 U.S.C. § 5312
^ "Salary Table No. 2021-EX Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2021.
^ "Order of Succession to the Secretary of Labor in Periods of Vacancy, Continuity of Executive Direction, Repositioning and Devolution of Departmental Governance, and Emergency Planning Under Circumstances of Extreme Disruption". Federal Register. January 19, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.

External links

Official website

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Gina Raimondo as Secretary of Commerce	Order of precedence of the United States as Secretary of Labor	Succeeded by Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo	11th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra