Washington — The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved Anthony D’Esposito’s nomination for inspector general of the Department of Labor with a 12-11 party-line vote Oct. 9.
D’Esposito, a former Republican member of congress, represented New York’s 4th District from 2023 to 2025. In November, he was defeated by Rep. Laura Gillen (D).
D’Esposito is also a former detective with the New York Police Department, retiring in 2020. Additionally, he served as a council member on the Hempstead (NY) Town Board from 2016 until 2023.
If confirmed, D’Esposito would fill a currently vacant role, although acting deputy IG Michael C. Mikulka is listed as “performing the duties of the inspector general.”
Luiz A. Santos initially led the agency after Larry Turner was fired on Jan. 25, but he became IG for the Architect of the Capitol in July.
Turner was among 17 IGs dismissed by the Trump administration, a move that violated the Inspector General Act of 1978, according to a September decision from U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes.
However, Reyes didn’t reinstate Turner or the seven other former IGs who filed suit against the administration over their firings.
The act requires the president to “communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both houses of Congress, not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer.”
The Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2022 expanded the requirements, stating that the written communication must include “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons.”
