Although not yet officially announced, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh is expected to leave the Biden Administration soon, to become the Executive Director of the National Hockey League (NHL) Players Association. Secretary Walsh has served as the head of the Department of Labor (DOL) since the beginning of the Biden Administration in 2021.

During Secretary Walsh’s tenure, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the DOL has been quite active, rescinding final wage and hour rules concerning the status of joint employers and independent contractors, issuing a new independent contractor rule, and soon proposing revisions to the overtime rule concerning the salary requirements for the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions. Walsh’s expected departure will leave the heads of both the DOL and the WHD vacant, as the Senate has yet to vote on the recent re-nomination of Jessica Looman as the WHD Administrator.

Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su likely will head the DOL in the interim and possibly will be the Biden Administration’s nominee to formally succeed Walsh. Prior to her current position, Deputy Secretary Su led the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.