Trump names Alexander Acosta as labor secretary nominee 'He’s had a tremendous career,' Trump said. 'I think he’ll be a tremendous secretary of labor.'

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his intent to nominate Alexander Acosta, a former Justice Department official and current dean of Florida International University College of Law, for labor secretary, just a day after his first pick, fast-food CEO Andrew Puzder, backed out.

“He’s had a tremendous career,” Trump said from the White House. “I think he’ll be a tremendous secretary of Labor.”


Acosta, who was born to Cuban immigrants, would become the first Hispanic member of Trump's cabinet. He has been confirmed by the Senate for three prior positions, which could help smooth his path to the Labor Department.

Still, his background is not without some controversy, including allegations that, while a U.S. attorney in Miami, he cut a sweetheart plea deal in 2008 with a billionaire investor accused of having sex with dozens of underage girls.

Acosta clerked for Justice Samuel Alito when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also served on the National Labor Relations Board under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2003, then left the NLRB to become an assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division between 2003 and 2005. He served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida from 2005 to 2009, when he joined FIU.

Leonard Leo, who is currently on leave from a post as executive vice president of the Federalist Society, said that Acosta is "a brilliant nomination by the president, with indispensable support from [White House] Counsel Donald McGahn, who had his eye on him as early as the summer months.”

Wilma Liebman, a Democratic NLRB member who served with Acosta, also spoke positively about him.

“Even though we often came out differently on policy conclusions or the outcome of a case, he was a good colleague and he was always willing to talk and bounce around ideas,” Liebman said. “I would say he’s very smart and he’s an independent thinker.”

Liebman said that while unions may not “be thrilled with every decision he’ll make...they’ll get a good hearing.”

Acosta has strong backing from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) In a statement, Rubio said: “I know Alex Acosta well, and he is a phenomenal choice to lead the Department of Labor."

But he could receive scrutiny over the plea deal he cut with wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. Acosta’s prosecutors agreed not to file any federal charges against Epstein if he pleaded guilty to state charges involving soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Epstein ultimately received an 18-month sentence in county jail and served about 13 months. Soon after the deal was cut in 2008, two women filed suit claiming that the decision to forgo federal prosecution violated a federal law — the Crime Victims Rights Act — because they and other teenagers Epstein paid for sex were never adequately consulted about the plea deal or given an opportunity to object to it.

Acosta is not a party in the suit, which names only the federal government as a defendant. In 2015, lawyers for the women demanded Acosta submit to a deposition in the case. The motion was withdrawn last year as settlement talks in the case went forward, but the case remains pending.

Acosta’s involvement in the saga could be awkward for Trump, drawing fresh attention to his ties to Epstein — including the financier’s tenure as a member at Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago.

“I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,'' Trump told New York Magazine back in 2002. "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

A Trump associate told POLITICO in 2015 that Trump and Epstein were not particularly close. “He was a member of one of Trump's clubs where he would visit with women and business associates, but there was no formal relationship," the source said.

Acosta’s nomination comes after myriad scandals scuttled Puzder’s confirmation. He withdrew his nomination on Wednesday, after POLITICO published a video in which his former wife leveled abuse allegations against him while appearing on Oprah's show in disguise in 1990. She later recanted the accusations.

Puzder also faced scrutiny for employing an undocumented worker and failing to pay taxes on her employment until after his nomination.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, which will hold Acosta's confirmation hearing, said, "Acosta’s nomination is off to a good start because he’s already been confirmed by the Senate three times."

Alexander said the committee "will schedule a hearing promptly after his nomination papers arrive in the Senate."

Madeline Conway, Josh Gerstein, Mel Leonor and Cogan Schneier contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misidentified Acosta's heritage. He is of Cuban descent.