David Weil is an American academic and economist who was the nominee to serve as administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the United States Department of Labor in the Biden administration. He previously served in this role during the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

from 2014 to 2017.

Education

Weil earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, followed by a Master of Public Policy and PhD from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

From 1998 to 2013, Weil worked as a professor of economics at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

Obama administration

On September 10, 2013, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated Weil to serve as the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. Hearings were held before the

Senate HELP Committee The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction also extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Sena ...

on December 10, 2013. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on December 18, 2013. Weil's initial nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Obama on January 3, 2014. President Obama resent his nomination to the Senate shortly after. On January 29, 2014, the committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor. Weil was confirmed by the entire Senate on April 28, 2014, by a vote of 51-42. Weil served as administrator from 2014 until 2017.

Other work

After the end of the

, he joined the

Heller School for Social Policy and Management The Heller School for Social Policy and Management is one of the four graduate schools of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked as one of the top ten schools of social policy and one of the top 50 graduate schoo ...

as dean and professor. Weil has criticized the workforce models of companies like

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

, which categorize drivers as independent contractors rather than workers.

Biden nomination

On June 3, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Weil to be the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division in the Department of Labor. Hearings were held before the Senate HELP Committee on July 15, 2021. The committee deadlocked on his nomination on August 3, 2021. Weil's nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022. President Biden resent his nomination the next day. On January 13, 2022, the committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor. On March 30, 2022, a

cloture motion Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ...

to move forward with Weil's nomination failed to pass the entire Senate by a vote of 47–53; Democratic Senators Joe Manchin,

Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Lea Sinema (; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician and former social worker serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona since January 2019. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent in ...

and

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...

voted against cloture. Without cloture, the nomination is effectively dead given a nomination vote cannot be held. This marked the first defeat of one of President Biden's nominees in a floor vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weil, David N. Living people Cornell University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Boston University faculty Brandeis University faculty Obama administration personnel Biden administration personnel United States Department of Labor officials Year of birth missing (living people)