Patrick Pizzella

Patrick Pizzella (born May 19, 1954) is an American government official, currently serving as the United States Deputy Secretary of Labor. He was formerly a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority appointed by President Barack Obama. He held positions in several agencies during four prior Administrations. With the resignation of Alexander Acosta, Pizzella serves as the acting United States Secretary of Labor as of July 20, 2019.

Pizzella was born on May 19, 1954. He is a native of New Rochelle, New York. Pizzella is a graduate of Iona Preparatory School. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of South Carolina.

Pizzella worked as a political field staffer for Ronald Reagan's 1976 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, then spent four years, from 1977 to 1980, as executive director of right-to-work committees in New Mexico and Delaware.

Reagan administration, 1981–1989

From 1981 to 1982, Pizzella served on the staff of the General Services Administration (GSA), and from 1983 to 1985, he was the special assistant to the Administrator of the GSA. In 1985, he became special assistant to the Associate Deputy Administrator for Management and Administration at the Small Business Administration (SBA). In 1986, Pizzella served as Director of Intergovernmental and Regional Affairs at the SBA.

From 1986 to 1988 he served as Administrator for Management Services, and from 1988 to 1989, he was the Deputy Under Secretary for Management, both at the United States Department of Education (nominated in September 1988, then a recess appointment in November). Pizzella's stay at the Education Department was short-lived, as he and several other conservative Reagan appointees resigned in March 1989, in a move hailed by liberals as a return to "collaborative efforts between the special-interest groups and the Department of Education" following William J. Bennett's tenure. However, Pizzella was not replaced, and his Senate nomination withdrawn, until September 1989.

Federal Housing Finance Board

In 1989, Pizzella was recruited by HUD Director Jack F. Kemp to serve at the new Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), created as part of the 1989 savings-and-loan bailout legislation, to oversee the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks and channel some of their profits (as much as $100 million in 1992) into housing programs. Pizzella served first as aconsultant, then for five years (1990–95) as the FHFB's Director of the Office of Administration, the last two years while Bill Clinton was President).

Private sector, 1996–2001

Pizzella worked at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP as director of coalitions from 1996 to 1997, and as government affairs counselor from 1998 to 2001. Though he worked for lobbyist Jack Abramoff at Preston Gates, he was not among the 21 Abramoff associates who were convicted of or pleaded guilty to wrongdoing in connection with their work. During this time, he contributed to Heritage Foundation policy development on civil service reform.

George W. Bush administration, 2001–09

Pizzella's official portrait during the Bush administration

After the election of George W. Bush in November 2000, Pizzella assisted the presidential transition by serving for several months as Acting Chief of Staff at the United States Office of Personnel Management.

On March 6, 2001, Bush announced his nomination of Pizzella to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management at the United States Department of Labor . His nomination was approved without a hearing by the Senate Health Committee, and was confirmed by the Senate on May 9, 2001. He served in this position until January 2009.

Pizzella was designated by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from January 18, 2004, to April 26, 2005.

2009–2013

Pizzella ran his own consulting firm and was principal at Patrick Pizzella LLC, a position he held from 2009 to 2013. He was cited in an editorial by the Wall Street Journal, and authored articles in Washington Examiner, The American Spectator, Government Technology magazine, and GCN magazine.

Federal Labor Relations Authority, 2013–17

In August 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Pizzella to fill the Republican (minority party) position on the three-member Federal Labor Relations Authority; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 16, 2013. Pizzella was nominated again by Obama for the same position in November 2015, for a five-year term ending July 1, 2020, but the Senate failed to act on the nomination by the time it adjourned in January 2017, and the nomination expired.

On January 23, 2017, Pizzella was designated by President Donald Trump to be the Acting Chairman of the FLRA.

Deputy Secretary of Labor

On June 19, 2017, Trump announced his intent to nominate Pizzella to be the next United States Deputy Secretary of Labor, replacing acting Deputy Secretary Nancy Rooney. On June 20, 2017, his nomination was sent to the United States Senate. After the end of the 2017 congressional session, Pizzella's nomination was re-delivered to the Senate in January 2018, and was referred to the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Cloture was invoked on Pizzella's nomination on April 11, 2018, and he was confirmed as Deputy Secretary on the following day; both the cloture and the vote on the nomination passed by 50-48 votes in the Senate.

Acting Secretary of Labor

On July 12, 2019, following the announcement of resignation by Secretary Alex Acosta, Trump announced via Twitter that Pizzella would be serving as acting Secretary of Labor.

Pizzella is married to Mary Joy Jameson, former senior business development executive for Google, a senior public affairs aide in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations, now serving on the Clemson University Foundation Board. They live in Alexandria, Virginia, and Pinehurst, North Carolina.