Patrick Pizzella
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Patrick Pizzella (born May 19, 1954) is an American government official who has served as the 36th
United States Deputy Secretary of Labor The United States deputy secretary of labor is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Labor. In the United States federal government, the deputy secretary oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Lab ...
from April 17, 2018 to January 20, 2021. He was formerly a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority appointed by 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 ...
. He held positions in several agencies during four prior Administrations. In 2019, after the resignation of
Alexander Acosta Rene Alexander Acosta (born January 16, 1969) is an American attorney and politician, who served as the 27th United States Secretary of Labor from 2017 to 2019. President Donald Trump nominated Acosta to be Labor Secretary on , and he was confir ...
, Pizzella served as the acting
United States Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...
for more than 2 months.


Early life and education

Pizzella was born on May 19, 1954. He is a native of New Rochelle, New York. Pizzella is a graduate of
Iona Preparatory School Iona Preparatory School, or simply Iona Prep, is an independent, Roman Catholic, all-male, college-preparatory school located in the north end of New Rochelle, New York, in suburban Westchester County. It consists of the Upper School for Grade ...
. He received a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in business administration from the University of South Carolina.


Career

Pizzella worked as a political field staffer for Ronald Reagan's 1976 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, then spent four years, from 1977 to 1980, as executive director of right-to-work committees in New Mexico and Delaware.


Reagan administration, 1981–1989

From 1981 to 1982, Pizzella served on the staff of the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
(GSA), and from 1983 to 1985, he was the special assistant to the Administrator of the GSA. In 1985, he became special assistant to the Associate Deputy Administrator for Management and Administration at the
Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...
(SBA). In 1986, Pizzella served as Director of Intergovernmental and Regional Affairs at the SBA. From 1986 to 1988 he served as Administrator for Management Services, and from 1988 to 1989, he was the Deputy Under Secretary for Management, both at the
United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...
(nominated in September 1988, then a recess appointment in November). Pizzella's stay at the Education Department was short-lived, as he and several other conservative Reagan appointees resigned in March 1989, in a move hailed by liberals as a return to "collaborative efforts between the special-interest groups and the Department of Education" following William J. Bennett's tenure. However, Pizzella was not replaced, and his Senate nomination withdrawn, until September 1989.


Federal Housing Finance Board

In 1989, Pizzella was recruited by HUD Director Jack F. Kemp to serve at the new
Federal Housing Finance Board The Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1989 in the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis to take over management of the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs or FHLBanks) from ...
(FHFB), created as part of the 1989 savings-and-loan bailout legislation, to oversee the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks and channel some of their profits (as much as $100 million in 1992) into housing programs. Pizzella served first as a consultant, then for five years (1990–95) as the FHFB's Director of the Office of Administration, the last two years while Bill Clinton was President).


Private sector, 1996–2001

Pizzella worked at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP as director of coalitions from 1996 to 1997, and as government affairs counselor from 1998 to 2001. Though he worked for lobbyist
Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...
at Preston Gates, he was not among the 21 Abramoff associates who were convicted of or pleaded guilty to wrongdoing in connection with their work. During this time, he contributed to
Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
policy development on civil service reform.


George W. Bush administration, 2001–09

After the election of
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
in November 2000, Pizzella assisted the presidential transition by serving for several months as Acting Chief of Staff at the
United States Office of Personnel Management The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that manages the US civilian service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight and support, and tends ...
. On March 6, 2001, Bush announced his nomination of Pizzella to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management at the
United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...
. His nomination was approved without a hearing by the Senate Health Committee, and was confirmed by the Senate on May 9, 2001. He served in this position until January 2009. Pizzella was designated by President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
to serve as a member of the board of directors of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ...
from January 18, 2004, to April 26, 2005.


2009–2013

Pizzella ran his own consulting firm and was principal at Patrick Pizzella LLC, a position he held from 2009 to 2013. He was cited in an editorial by ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', and authored articles in the ''
Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is o ...
'', ''
The American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...
'', ''Government Technology'' magazine, and ''GCN'' magazine.


Federal Labor Relations Authority, 2013–17

In August 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 ...
nominated Pizzella to fill the Republican (minority party) position on the three-member Federal Labor Relations Authority; he was confirmed by the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
on October 16, 2013. Pizzella was nominated again by Obama for the same position in November 2015, for a five-year term ending July 1, 2020, but the Senate failed to act on the nomination by the time it adjourned in January 2017, and the nomination expired. On January 23, 2017, Pizzella was designated by
President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
to be the Acting Chairman of the FLRA.


United States Department of Labor


Deputy Secretary of Labor

On June 19, 2017, Trump announced his intent to nominate Pizzella to be the next
United States Deputy Secretary of Labor The United States deputy secretary of labor is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Labor. In the United States federal government, the deputy secretary oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Lab ...
, replacing acting Deputy Secretary Nancy Rooney. On June 20, 2017, his nomination was sent to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
. After the end of the 2017 congressional session, Pizzella's nomination was re-delivered to the Senate in January 2018, and was referred to the
United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 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 ...
. Cloture was invoked on Pizzella's nomination on April 11, 2018, and he was confirmed as Deputy Secretary on the following day; both the cloture and the vote on the nomination passed by 50–48 votes in the Senate.


Acting Secretary of Labor

On July 12, 2019, following the resignation of Secretary Alex Acosta, Trump announced via Twitter that Pizzella would serve as acting Secretary of Labor. Trump nominated
Eugene Scalia Eugene Scalia (born August 14, 1963) is an American attorney who is a partner at Gibson Dunn. He served as the United States secretary of labor during the final 16 months of the Donald Trump administration. Scalia previously served one year as ...
to succeed Acosta, and he was sworn in on September 30, 2019.


Private sector, 2021

After leaving government service in January 2021, Pizzella accepted an appointment to the Board of Director of the Job Creators Network, and has continued to author op-eds on labor issues for ''National Review'', ''The Hill'' and ''Real Clear Politics'', among other publications.


Personal life

Pizzella is married to Mary Joy Jameson, former senior business development executive for Google, a senior public affairs aide in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations, who in the 2010s served on the
Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...
Foundation Board. They live in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where both have been active in local affairs.Sinclair, David, "Pinehurst Man Named Acting Labor Secretary By President Trump," in ''Daily Pilot'' July 12, 2019, https://www.thepilot.com/news/pinehurst-man-named-acting-labor-secretary-by-president-trump/article_d3d45772-a4bc-11e9-8bec-473e7efa7a9d.html


References


External links


Pizzella Labor Dept. Twitter feed

Nov. 19, 2019 Speech celebrating 100th anniversary of International Labor Organization (ILO)

Feb. 2020 article in ''National Review'' touting Labor Dept. deregulation

Pizzella 2011 op-ed on Reagan
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzella, Patrick 1954 births George W. Bush administration personnel Living people North Carolina Republicans Obama administration personnel Politicians from New Rochelle, New York Reagan administration personnel Small Business Administration personnel Trump administration cabinet members United States Department of Education officials United States Deputy Secretaries of Labor United States Secretaries of Labor University of South Carolina alumni Virginia Republicans