Alexander Acosta, a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School, is President Donald Trump’s pick as the next Secretary of Labor.
Currently the dean of Florida International University Law School, Acosta has held several positions in the federal government. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice under President George W. Bush, and he is a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He also served on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 2002 to 2003.
If confirmed, Acosta would be the first Latino in the Trump cabinet.
Martha Minow, dean of Harvard Law School, said “Alexander Acosta has spent his career in public service, legal work, and education. His work at the Civil Rights Division, the NLRB, private practice, and legal education provide outstanding experience for the Department of Labor. Experts admire his deep knowledge of labor and employment, sense of ethics, commitment to law, and devotion to giving back to his community. On behalf of his alma mater, I send him congratulations and best wishes.”
A 1990 graduate of Harvard College, Acosta graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1994. At HLS, he was a member of the Harvard Latino Law Review and Lincoln’s Inn, a social organization.
Howell Jackson, James J. Reid, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School recalls Acosta as “an excellent student and a pleasure to have in the classroom.”
Acosta clerked for Samuel Alito, Jr., when Alito was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In addition to his government service, Acosta practiced law in the Washington office of Kirkland & Ellis, where he specialized in employment and labor issues.
Acosta is the second member of the HLS Class of 1994 to be nominated to a high-level position in the Trump Administration. Michael Pompeo is the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.