Update: October 7, Jonathan Berry was confirmed by the Senate to the role of Solicitor for the Department of Labor. Notably, rather than receiving an individual vote, Berry was confirmed as part of a package of more than 100 Trump nominees for roles all across the federal government. Senate Republicans recently changed procedural rules of the Senate to allow voting for or against the confirmation of large groups of nominees en masse, without a numerical limit on how many nominees can be voted on at one time. This will effectively limit debate and accountability on votes for individual nominees, and prevent the opposition party from blocking many individual nominees. However, this procedure will be limited to nominees for lower- and mid-level executive branch nominees, sub-Cabinet level positions, and ambassadorships. It also cannot be used to confirm judicial nominees.
President Trump nominated Jonathan Berry as the Solicitor of Labor at the Department of Labor (DOL). If confirmed, Berry will be the chief legal officer at DOL and have the independent authority to initiate lawsuits to enforce more than 180 federal labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act. Berry is currently a managing partner at Boyden Gray & Associates PLLC. Previously, Berry served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Labor during the first Trump administration. Berry also authored Project 2025’s section on the Department of Labor and other labor related agencies, which calls for weakening the federal minimum wage, limiting overtime eligibility, and undermining workers’ right to a union by forcing secret ballot elections.