WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's new nominee for labor secretary, Miami law school dean and former U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta, could have a much easier path to confirmation in the Senate than his predecessor, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder.
At least that's the early indication, based on the mostly warm reception Acosta received on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Washington state Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, said Acosta would get "a rigorous and thorough vetting" and that she had a few concerns about him, but she didn't specify them.
Murray led her party in raising questions about Puzder's record opposing an increase in the minimum wage, and in drawing attention to the discrimination lawsuits he faced from employees at his Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants. Earlier this week, she called on Puzder to withdraw to avoid an embarrassing confirmation hearing that had been set for Thursday but was abruptly canceled.
Acosta, as a former U.S attorney and a former assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department, has been through the official vetting and Senate confirmation process before. He also would become the first Latino to serve in Trump's Cabinet.
Democrats and their allies were still celebrating after forcing the first of Trump's Cabinet picks to withdraw Wednesday.
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said, "Working people changed the game on this nomination."
"Unlike Andy Puzder, Alexander Acosta's nomination deserves serious consideration," Trumka said. "In one day, we've gone from a fast-food CEO who routinely violates labor law to a public servant with experience enforcing it ... . We will judge this nominee by the commitment he shows to making life better for working people."
Murray said Americans had made it clear that "they want a true champion for workers as secretary of labor, one who will work for them, not just those at the top."
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio called Acosta "a phenomenal choice."
"Alex has succeeded in all endeavors he has taken on, and managing the Department of Labor will be no different," Rubio said.
Rubio had dinner with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, but administration officials would not disclose whether the two discussed Acosta or the possibility of nominating him.
Trump announced his selection at the White House on Thursday, only a day after Puzder put an end to a growing political uproar by withdrawing his nomination. Puzder called it quits after coming under intense attack from Democrats and a growing number of Senate Republicans who made it clear they were not prepared to vote for him.
Puzder's troubles included his hiring of a worker who was in the U.S. illegally as his housekeeper, and a decades-old video of his ex-wife appearing in disguise on an Oprah Winfrey show accusing him of abuse. She has since recanted the allegations.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a member of the labor committee and one of the Republicans who declined to endorse Puzder, was leaving a Senate lunch when he was asked for his thoughts on the new nominee. His response: "Not much. We'll have to wait and see."
Senators will have plenty of time to do their homework on Acosta, with a confirmation hearing not expected until March.
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the spending panel that oversees Labor Department appropriations, said, "President Trump has heard our voices loud and clear, and I am pleased that he has chosen to take a different path with his new nominee, Mr. Acosta. While I will fully vet Mr. Acosta, he has a markedly different record than President Trump's first nominee."
If confirmed, Acosta, 48, who is Cuban-American, would become only the third Cuban-American Cabinet secretary in history, after Mel Martinez and Carlos Gutierrez.
He's a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, a graduate of Harvard College and a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He also is dean of Florida International University's School of Law, a position he has held since 2009, according to his biography on the school's website.
Acosta, who served as South Florida's top federal prosecutor during the second term of the Bush administration before joining FIU's faculty, not only boasts stellar conservative credentials but also is recognized as a political pragmatist by many.
"He has had a tremendous career," Trump said. "He will be a tremendous secretary of labor."
Praise for Acosta's nomination poured in from South Florida, with Miami's three Republican members in Congress _ U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen _ extolling his experience and personality.
"He is a man of great principle, integrity and courage, and I am confident he will do an excellent job serving our nation," Diaz-Balart said.
Opponents were busy digging into Acosta's public record.
Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan group, said she was "astonished" by Acosta's selection, saying his tenure as head of the Civil Rights Division had been marked by "stark politicization, and other improper hiring and personnel decisions." Among other things, she said political and ideological affiliations had been used "as a litmus test" to evaluate job candidates and career attorneys.
"It is hard to believe that Mr. Acosta would now be nominated to lead a federal agency tasked with promoting lawful hiring practices and safe workplaces," she said.
But Michael S. Pasano, a former federal prosecutor and white-collar trial attorney in Miami for the firm of Carlton Fields, called Acosta "a super smart guy" who worked to prosecute human trafficking and put an emphasis on tackling organized crime: "The guy is a straight shooter, smart. I never thought of him as political."
One issue that's sure to prompt questions at Acosta's confirmation hearing is his role with U.S. Century Bank.
In 2013, he became chairman of the bank, despite not having worked in the financial industry since a stint as an investment banker before law school, according to his official biography. The Doral-based financial institution nearly went under during the recession because of bad loans and received $50.2 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the largest taxpayer bailout for a bank in Florida.
