US nominates attorney Eugene Scalia as labour secretary

Washington replaces Alexander Acosta with Eugene Scalia, son of the late hardline-conservative Supreme Court Justice, as Labour Secretary.

Washington:Right-wing corporate lawyer Eugene Scalia was appointed as the new Secretary of Labour after his predecessor was forced to step down due to past negligence in the prosecution of a billionaire accused of child sex trafficking.

"I am pleased to announce that it is my intention to nominate Gene Scalia as the new Secretary of Labour. Gene has led a life of great success in the legal and labour field and is highly respected not only as a lawyer but as a lawyer with great experience," Trump said on his Twitter account.

"He will be a great member of an administration that has done more in the first two-and-half years than perhaps any administration in history!" Trump added in his tweet-announcement.

Scalia has a background of a defence attorney for giant corporations among which was Walmart, who was castigated for underpaying employees and was also accused of wage theft.

The country's top labour unions and Democratic Party lawmakers are expected to fiercely oppose Scalia's nomination regarding his role in the Walmart case.

However, Scalia will officially be confirmed and sworn in as Labour Secretary within a few days.

Scalia worked for the George W. Bush administration (2001-09) and is currently a senior partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher in Washington.

The announcement of Scalia's nomination comes just a week after Acosta resigned after giving a press conference in which he defended his actions as a federal prosecutor a decade ago when he reached a controversial plea agreement with New York mogul Jeffrey Epstein, who was recently arrested and charged with alleged sex trafficking of minors.