Old Foes Await in Scalia’s Return to Labor, 16 Years After Split

Eugene Scalia had to fall in line or take a stand.

His boss, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, had directed him to intercede in a lawsuit on the side of a union leader who was the George W. Bush White House’s closest, if only, friend in organized labor. Scalia vehemently disagreed, advocating to reverse the stance adopted by both Chao and her predecessors in Bill Clinton’s administration.

Already marginalized in an acting role with a Democratic-controlled Senate unwilling to confirm him as solicitor, Scalia was seeing Chao take the advice of her union liaison over his, even though he was ...