Deputy Labor Secretary nominee Keith Sonderling gets stumped during Senate questioning

President Trump’s picks to lead the Department of Labor sat for questioning from the Senate this week, but his deputy labor secretary nominee, Keith Sonderling, didn’t appear to have all the answers.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) asked Sonderling, who spent four years as a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a series of questions about what’s considered DEI under the Trump administration’s executive orders.

She first asked if training for people with disabilities is considered DEI. Sonderling said the government is still required to abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that under his leadership, he would continue providing that training.

“So that is not DEI?” Sen. Murray asked.

“That is a civil rights statute that the department enforces to make sure that disabled people can prosper in the workplace,” Sonderling replied.

The senator also asked if the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which aims to remove barriers to employment, is DEI; he did not give a direct answer. When asked if veteran hiring programs count as DEI, he said it’s important to protect veterans, without answering her question.

“I think it’s just pretty clear that there is no standard definition of DEI across our federal government, and we should be very careful what we are saying and putting out there in public,” Murray said, ending the exchange.

Sonderling isn’t the only one who doesn’t know exactly what programs are considered DEI. The Trump administration’s executive orders are unclear, and the Office of Personnel Management has not provided clarifying details, although it has ordered the disbandment of all employee resource groups and elimination of observances including Black History Month and Pride Month.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund sued the administration last week over the opaque nature of the anti-DEI executive orders. The organization claimed companies cannot comply with orders if they don’t know what is, or is not, allowed, HR Brew previously reported.

The Senate is expected to vote on Sonderling’s nomination on Thursday, Mar. 6.