Biden Picks Obama Alum Nayak as Labor Department Policy Head (1)

President Joe Biden plans to nominate Rajesh Nayak, an advocate for progressive regulatory policy who served in the Obama administration, as the U.S. Labor Department’s top policy official.

If confirmed by the Senate as assistant secretary for policy, Nayak would oversee an influential central office responsible for supporting all DOL subagencies in the drafting of regulations and coordinating with the White House to complete them.

Nayak’s upcoming nomination—first reported by Bloomberg Law on Friday morning—would signal bolder regulations on issues such as overtime pay, federal contracting mandates, and rules to achieve equity in the workplace. In a 2020 paper he ...