DOL Secretary Acosta Resigns; Pizzella To Serve As Acting Secretary

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After much scrutiny for his handling of a plea deal for the New York financier Jeffrey E. Epstein, Labor Secretary Acosta is stepping down. With pressure from both pollical parties to resign, Acosta announced his resignation which will take effect in one week; leaving the current labor Deputy Secretary Patrick Pizzella as acting secretary until the President names a permanent replacement. 

Trouble arose for Acosta when Federal prosecutors recently unveiled new charges of sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy against Epstein. Acosta was a U.S. prosecutor in Florida when Epstein received a plea deal to avoid significant jail time.

Considered by many as being more aggressively pro-business than Acosta, Pizzella is anticipated to move more quickly than his predecessor to reverse Obama-era regulations that trouble businesses. President Trump nominated Pizzella and was sworn into office by Acosta in April 2018, before which Pizzella served as a Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to that post in 2013.

Pizzella has a long history of federal service holding positions at the Federal Housing Finance Board, Department of Education, Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration, and the General Services Administration.