President Trump says he will nominate Eugene Scalia for labor secretary

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will nominate lawyer Eugene Scalia, son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, for labor secretary. 

The president made the announcement in a series of two tweets. 

“I am pleased to announce that it is my intention to nominate Gene Scalia as the new Secretary of Labor. Gene has led a life of great success in the legal and labor field and is highly respected not only as a lawyer, but as a lawyer with great experience....” Trump tweeted. 

“....working with labor and everyone else. He will be a great member of an Administration that has done more in the first 2 ½ years than perhaps any Administration in history!” he said on Twitter. 

Scalia is a partner in the Washington office of the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm. The veteran attorney served as solicitor of labor for the George W. Bush administration. 

Trump and Scalia met privately on Thursday afternoon at the White House to discuss the position, a person familiar with the deliberations told the Washington Post.

The White House has also been asking senators what they think of Scalia for the Labor post, another source familiar with the conversations told the paper. The Senate would ultimately be tasked with confirming Scalia’s nomination. 

If confirmed, Scalia will succeed former labor secretary Alex Acosta, who stepped down last week. 

Acosta has come under renewed criticism for his handling of a 2008 secret plea deal with wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of sexually abusing underage girls.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.