Trump Nominates Acosta as Labor Secretary

President Donald Trump nominated former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Alexander Acosta Thursday to serve as U.S. secretary of labor.

Acosta, who is the son of Cuban immigrants, is the first Hispanic nominated to Trump's cabinet. 

"He has had a tremendous career," Trump told reporters assembled in the East Room of the White House. "I think he'll be a tremendous secretary of labor."

Before returning to the private sector, Acosta had a decades-long public service career, serving in three presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed positions.

He was appointed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by former Republican President George W. Bush, who also appointed him to be assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

He was then appointed to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where he went after high-profile defendants such as Jack Abramoff and UBS, resulting in the Swiss bank paying more than $750 million in fines for a tax-avoidance scheme.

Though Acosta signed hundreds of opinions at the NLRB, some of which are sure to draw scrutiny from progressives, those familiar with his work describe him as a careful and cautious public servant whose career trajectory suggested he may someday vie for a federal judgeship.

Having gone through multiple vettings by the U.S. Senate, it is unlikely there will be any surprises in his background that could derail his nomination.

Acosta would replace multi-millionaire fast food magnateAndrew Puzder, the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc, who withdrew his name from consideration on Wednesday amid concerns that he could not garner enough Senate votes to be confirmed. 

Sources on Capitol Hill told Newsmax that Senate Education and Labor Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R.-Tenn., who will oversee the confirmation hearing, received word of who the nominee would be "about an hour ago" and had no input in the selection.

This report contains material from Reuters. 

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.