WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to pick Eugene Scalia, the oldest son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, to be the secretary of labor, Politico reported first on Thursday, citing three unnamed sources.
Scalia would replace Alex Acosta in the role.
Acosta announced he would step down last week, after an outcry over his handling of a sex abuse case involving financier Jeffrey Epstein when Acosta was a U.S. prosecutor in Florida. Epstein was arrested in New York on new federal sex trafficking charges on July 6.
Trump confirmed his nominee Thursday night on Twitter, saying that Scalia had as a lawyer “great experience working with labor and everyone else.”
Scalia is a partner at a Washington-area law firm where he specializes in labor and employment matters. He was previously the top lawyer for the Labor Department.
As a lawyer, he has challenged tighter U.S. financial regulations, a rule that forced energy companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments, and an order that required more distance between orcas, or killer whales, and humans after the death of a marine life trainer at SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.
