There’s little difference between the potential VP pick and his fellow Arizona Senator, Kyrsten Sinema when it comes to labor.
Joe Biden has prided himself on being “the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history.” While his leadership of the executive branch reflected that commitment, legislatively Biden ran into immovable roadblocks in Congress. Take, for example, his flagship labor legislation. In the 117th Congress, the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize Act) passed the Democrat-controlled house only to stagnate in the Senate where, unable to secure the 60 votes needed to prevent filibuster attempts, it died. Despite support from the likes of Senator Joe Manchin, the PRO Act went too far for three Democrats: Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly. While Kelly has hinted that he may be open to considering some provisions of the PRO Act, two years later, he remains one of only two Senate Democrats not cosponsoring the legislation (Sinema has since changed her party affiliation to independent).
Kelly’s opposition to the PRO Act is not the only instance of his intransigence on labor issues. In 2022, Kelly joined Sinema and Manchin to hand the Biden administration a surprise defeat in the Senate on a nominee to lead the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. The move was the first time that a Biden nominee had lost a Senate floor vote, surprising both the administration and Senate leadership. The nominee, David Weil, had previously served as the head of Wage and Hour under the Obama administration, so was widely considered to be highly qualified to retake the post. But Kelly, Sinema and Manchin voted against him, with Kelly openly stating that his opposition was motivated by the decisions Weil had made under the Obama administration. These decisions included extending overtime to more American workers, increasing the number of employers considered to be joint employers (and thus undermining a loophole enabling powerful corporations to avoid legal accountability for their labor practices), and limiting the ability of firms to label employees as “independent contractors.” These decisions were extremely unpopular with business groups, with those in the gig economy and restaurant industries among those most affected by joint employer rules and the limiting of independent contracting.
The Intercept has reported that prior to his stint in the Senate, Kelly has served on the board of large restaurant company Landry’s and on the board of a gig company SPAC.
In addition to his opposition to Weil, Kelly was a holdout against acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s nomination as Secretary. Though Kelly eventually told a Politico reporter that he would support Su, he did so only after strong pressure from the White House and Arizona residents – and after it became clear that Su would not be able to garner the votes needed. As the reporter noted in her tweet announcing Kelly’s support for Su “the nom is on life support.”
Given the Biden administration’s vocal support of labor, and the high profile fights over organized labor in the Arizona-based computer chip factories funded in part through the CHIPS and Innovation Act, Kelly’s opposition to pro-labor policies is notable. As ill-advised as some labor leaderships’ flirtation with the Republican Party may be, it’s worth contemplating if elevating one of the labor’s most intransigent opponents in the Senate Democratic Caucus as a Vice Presidential candidate is a wise gamble.