The Senate voted 47-41 Wednesday night to confirm Keith Sonderling as Secretary of Labor, filling a cabinet seat that has been officially empty since April.
Sonderling had been running the department as acting secretary. The vote drops the "acting" and makes him permanent.
Every Democrat voted no.
Every Republican present voted yes. The nomination needed only a simple majority, so GOP unity alone was enough.
Quick recap: the Senate confirmed Sonderling as Deputy Secretary of Labor in March 2025, 53-46. He was later designated acting secretary. The Senate HELP Committee advanced his nomination for the top job on a 12-11 party-line vote.
Punchbowl News said ahead of the vote that Republican leaders were looking for a way to confirm him before senators head home to campaign. They got it done.
Sonderling now holds the job without the asterisk, and no senator who voted crossed the aisle to get him there.