U.S. Chamber Backs Sonderling to Lead Labor Department

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pressing the Senate to confirm Keith Sonderling as Secretary of Labor, calling him "a highly qualified nominee" whose record includes two prior Senate confirmations.

In a letter addressed "To the Members of the United States Senate," the Chamber's top policy officer, Neil L. Bradley, wrote that Sonderling's "leadership and vision will ensure the Department of Labor continues to uphold its mission while fostering economic growth and job creation." Bradley serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer, and Head of Strategic Advocacy at the Chamber.

Sonderling's path to the Cabinet post runs through the agencies he would now lead. He served in the first Trump administration in the Wage and Hour Division, according to the letter. The Senate then confirmed him as a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Senate confirmed him a second time earlier in the second Trump administration, this time as Deputy Secretary of Labor. "While serving as the Deputy Secretary of Labor he effectively managed the Department of Labor as the key policy officer," Bradley wrote.

That operational experience sits at the center of the Chamber's case. The business group argued that Sonderling, having already run the department's day-to-day policy operations, needs no onboarding period.

"Mr. Sonderling has demonstrated the requisite skill, knowledge, and temperament to be an excellent Secretary of Labor," Bradley wrote. "He is eminently qualified and the Chamber looks forward to him being confirmed."

The endorsement from the nation's largest business lobby signals where employer groups stand on the direction of labor policy under the new administration. The Chamber paired its praise of Sonderling's management record with an explicit framing of the department's mandate: upholding its mission "while fostering economic growth and job creation."

Sonderling's confirmation hearing, which the Chamber cited as evidence of his qualifications, tested his command of wage-and-hour enforcement and employment discrimination policy — the two areas where he has held Senate-confirmed roles.

The nomination now returns to the full Senate. If confirmed, Sonderling would move from the deputy's office to the secretary's post at an agency that sets overtime rules, wage standards, and workplace enforcement priorities that directly affect corporate compliance costs. The Chamber's letter makes clear the business community expects a confirmed Sonderling to run the department with growth and job creation alongside its enforcement mission.