Union leaders hailed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su to succeed Marty Walsh, in the U.S. Labor Department’s top job.

So did Senate Labor Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (Ind-Vt.), whose panel will schedule a confirmation hearing for Su.

Sanders posted on social media that he is confident Su will be an excellent Secretary of Labor and looks forward to working with her to protect workers’ rights and build the trade union movement in the U.S.

High praise also came from Californians who know her from her time as California Labor Commissioner. This included comments of support from Vice President Kamala Harris and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Mary Kay Henry, the first national leader to endorse Su.

On social media, Harris called Su a longtime advocate for workers, and she looks forward to continue to work with her to fulfill the pledge to be the most pro-worker administration in U.S. history.

Henry praised Su for her ability to use the levers of government to protect and expand the rights of working people, particularly low-wage workers, immigrants and women of color.

“Su has championed policies that have made workplaces safer, won hundreds of millions for workers in unpaid wages and advanced justice for immigrants,” said Henry in a prepared statement. “A landmark case she won on behalf of garment workers spurred nationwide reforms to end sweatshops and protect the victims of human trafficking.”

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, in a prepared statement, called Su a champion for worker rights.

“Su has distinguished herself as a principled fighter for the basic rights of every worker, no matter where we’re from or what kind of work we do,” Shuler said. “At this pivotal moment in history, that’s precisely the leadership America’s working people need in their next Secretary of Labor.”

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also issued a prepared statement about Su’s nomination. She called Su a lifelong champion of workers’ rights, who has led a crackdown on wage theft, traveled the country to hear workers’ stories and helped promote and institute the administration’s historic remaking of our economy from the bottom up and middle out.

Weingarten also referenced Su’s time running the State of California’s Labor Department, where she fought to protect trafficked workers and boost the minimum wage.

Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a prepared statement that the AFGE proudly supports Su’s nomination.

“Julie Su has spent her career fighting for workers’ rights and is preeminently qualified to lead the Department of Labor,” Kelley said. “Su is the right person to continue the Biden administration’s focus on ensuring that employees across the country have access to good-paying, high-quality jobs and are protected from discrimination and unsafe working conditions. We encourage the Senate to approve her Historic nomination quickly.”

Sean M. O’Brien, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, issued a statement that applauded the nomination. He called Su a phenomenal ally of working families and said she is not afraid to stand up to white-collar criminals and corporate greed.

“The Senate has already confirmed her once, so we encourage them to do so again – expeditiously and without political sideshows,” he said.

While union leaders overwhelmingly approved the nomination, Republicans on the Labor Committee will likely oppose her nomination.

Su won confirmation as Deputy Secretary in 2021 by a 50-47 party-line vote and based on the current makeup of the Senate, another close vote is expected.

The top Republican on the panel, Bill Cassidy (R-La.), announced he would oppose Su, again.

He criticized Su’s support for ending corporate misclassification of workers as “independent contractors,” which denies workers’ rights and forces them to pay for their employees’ contributions to Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.

He further charged Su supported California’s anti-misclassification law, AB5, which voters later rejected in a referendum — without mentioning that Uber and Lyft funded a $200 million campaign against it. Cassidy also alleged Su was responsible for rampant jobless benefits fraud in California.

According to the White House, Su has spent her career fighting for workers, and currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of Labor, a position she has held since her July 2021 Senate confirmation. As Deputy Secretary, Su worked side-by-side with former Secretary Marty Walsh to advance President Biden’s vision of a strong, resilient, inclusive economy, with worker well-being at its center.

Su began her life in government service as the California Labor Commissioner where she launched the “Wage Theft is a Crime” campaign with the support of both labor and management.

Prior to that, she spent 17 years as a civil rights attorney and represented workers, including 72 Thai garment workers who were trafficked into the U.S. and forced to work behind barbed wire and under armed guard.

A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Su is the daughter of immigrants. She speaks Mandarin and Spanish and has two daughters who are both in college.