Alexander Acosta’s recent confirmation as secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) ends a nearly 100-day void atop the agency. But it won’t necessarily yield swift policy direction on the tall stack of regulatory, budgetary and strategic issues waiting on his desk.
 
Outside stakeholders and agency career officers have bemoaned the lengthy state of paralysis at the DOL without a labor secretary and with little direction from the White House. Acosta’s final approval from the Senate on April 27 may provide only temporarily relief from the heartburn induced by inaction. A crowded Senate calendar also could slow ...