Sanders is eyeing Labor Secretary post in a possible Biden administration

The two clashed during the campaign on issues like healthcare, but share a focus on working people

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to the crowd at a car rally campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Warren, Mich. (Nicole Hester/Ann Arbor News via AP) (AP)

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is angling for a position as Labor Secretary if Joe Biden wins in November, POLITICO reported on Thursday. Labor issues like healthcare and raising the minimum wage have been a hallmark of Mr Sanders’ career and past campaigns, and his appointment would be a win for progressives in a possible Biden administration that’s also considering elevating some Republicans  to top cabinet posts.

“Right now I am focused on seeing that Biden is elected president,” the former presidential candidate told POLITICO. “That’s what my main focus is.”

He has reportedly reached out to Mr Biden’s proposed transition team about the position. The Biden campaign says it will decide on any cabinet appointments after the election.

Mr Biden has at times taken pains to separate himself from his more radical rival. At the first presidential debate, President Trump accused Biden of wanting socialized medicine. Unlike the Vermont Senator, Mr Biden does not support single-payer healthcare, where the government is the sole insurance provider, but does support having an expanded public option for insurance.

"The matter of the fact is that I beat Bernie Sanders," Mr Biden said during the debate. "By a whole hell of a lot.

Still, the two share a focus on working people and expanding health care and the social safety net, and have been collaborating since the former Vice President clinched the nomination.

Mr Sanders endorse the Biden campaign in April, and in May, the two men began collaborating on “unity task forces,” which would help define a coming Democratic agenda.

In August, at the Democratic National Convention, Mr Sanders reiterated his endorsement.

“Together we must build a nation that is more equitable and compassionate and more inclusive,” he said. “I know that Joe Biden will begin that fight on day one,” he added, citing the Biden campaign’s support for labor-related policies like a $15 minimum wage, 12 weeks of family leave, and expanded public healthcare.  

According to POLITICO, other people being considered for the Labor post include Bill Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO union and a Howard University economics professor; Sharon Block, an Obama alum and director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard University; Rep. Andy Levin, a former union organizer and leader of Michigan’s Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth; and Seth Harris, Obama’s former deputy secretary of Labor.

If appointed, Sen. Sanders would preside over a cabinet agency that gets less press than the high-profile departments of Justice or Treasury or Homeland Security, but directly touches almost every American’s life. He would inherit a hollowed out Labor department which under the Trump administration has sought to roll back protections for LGBTQ workers, declined to add new legal worker safety obligations for employers during the coronavirus pandemic, and has allowed vacancies to pile up in the agency.