Rene Alexander Acosta (born January 16, 1969) is an American attorney, academic, and politician who is the 27th and current United States Secretary of Labor. A Republican, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Labor Relations Board and later served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida. On February 16, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Acosta to be United States Secretary of Labor. Acosta is the first and only Hispanic member of Trump's cabinet so far. He is the former dean of Florida International University College of Law.
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Background
Acosta is the only son of Cuban immigrants. He is a native of Miami, Florida, where he attended the Gulliver Schools. He received an A.B. degree in economics from Harvard College in 1990 and received a J.D. degree cum laude from Harvard Law School 1994.
Following law school, Acosta served as a law clerk to Samuel Alito, then a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, from 1994 to 1995. Acosta then worked at the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where he specialized in employment and labor issues. While in Washington, Acosta taught classes on employment law, disability-based discrimination law, and civil rights law at the George Mason University School of Law.
On December 31, 2013, Acosta became the new chairman of U.S. Century Bank, the largest domestically owned Hispanic community bank in Florida and one of the 15 largest Hispanic community banks in the nation. He spearheaded the effort to establish the J.M. degree in banking compliance, BSA and anti-money-laundering at FIU Law. Acosta is a member of the Board of Trustees of Gulliver Schools, where he served a past term as board chairman.
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Executive Branch service
Acosta served in four presidentially appointed, U.S. Senate-confirmed positions in the Bush administration. From December 2001 to December 2002, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division. From December 2002 to August 2003, he was a member of the National Labor Relations Board where he participated in or authored more than 125 opinions.
Following the NLRB, he became Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division on August 22, 2003. While leading the division, he allowed Bradley Schlozman to make decisions on hiring. A report by the Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility later found that Schlozman illegally used his authority to give preferential treatment to conservatives and made false statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee. These findings were relayed to the office of the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, but he was not prosecuted. While it placed primary responsibility on Schlozman, the report also concluded that Acosta "did not sufficiently supervise Schlozman," and that "in light of indications [he and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sheldon Bradshaw] had about Schlozman's conduct and judgment, they failed to ensure that Schlozman's hiring and personnel decisions were based on proper considerations."
In 2005, Acosta was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
U.S. Attorney for Southern District of Florida
In 2005, Acosta began serving as U.S. Attorney for Southern District of Florida, where his office prosecuted the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the terrorism suspect José Padilla, the founders of the Cali Cartel, and Charles McArther Emmanuel, the son of Liberia's former leader.
The District also targeted white collar crime, prosecuting several bank-related cases, including one against Swiss bank UBS. The case resulted in UBS paying $780 million in fines, and for the first time in history, the bank provided the United States with the names of individuals who were using secret Swiss bank accounts to avoid U.S. taxes.
Other notable cases during his tenure include the corruption prosecution of Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti, Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell, Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty, and Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne; the conviction of Cali Cartel founders Miguel and Gilberto RodrÃguez Orejuela, for the importation of 200,000 kilos of cocaine, which resulted in a $2.1 billion forfeiture; and the white-collar crime prosecutions of executives connected to Hamilton Bank.
Acosta also emphasized health-care fraud prosecutions. Under Acosta's leadership the District prosecuted more than 700 individuals, responsible for a total of more than $2 billion in Medicare fraud.
Dean of the Florida International University College of Law
On July 1, 2009, Acosta became the second dean of Florida International University College of Law. During Acosta's tenure FIU Law has risen to #100 in the U.S. News and World Report Rankings, improved its student to faculty ratio from 16.2 to 1, to 12.8 to 1, and reduced its class size by 40%.
Secretary of Labor
After the nomination of Andrew Puzder to United States Secretary of Labor was withdrawn, President Donald Trump announced in a press conference on February 16, 2017, that he would nominate Acosta to fill the position. Acosta was recommended by White House Counsel Don McGahn.
On April 27, 2017, Acosta was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a 60-38 vote.
Awards and recognition
Acosta has twice been named one of the nation's 50 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine. He serves on the Florida Innocence Commission, on the Florida Supreme Court's Commission on Professionalism, and on the Commission for Hispanic Rights and Responsibilities.
References
External links
- Official biography from the Florida International University College of Law
- Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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