Eugene Scalia

Eugene Scalia (born August 14, 1963) is an American lawyer who served as the 28th United States Secretary of Labor during the final 16 months of the first Trump administration from 2019 to 2021. Scalia previously served as the United States Solicitor of Labor under President George W. Bush. He is a son of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

Scalia was described by The New York Times as "a skilled lawyer with a broadly conservative, pro-business and anti-regulatory agenda". As Secretary of Labor, he reversed Obama-era labor and employment regulations. He returned to become a partner at Gibson Dunn at the end of his tenure.

Scalia was born on August 14, 1963, in Cleveland, Ohio, the second of nine children of future Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Maureen (née McCarthy) Scalia. He attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where he was known colloquially as "Gene" and graduated in 1981. Scalia became an editor of the school newspaper, U-High Midway, and had his column called "Blind Side". He also participated in soccer and debate; during his time as a student, Scalia was elected vice-president of the school's disciplinary board, beating classmate Arne Duncan, who would later be appointed U.S. Secretary of Education.

Scalia enrolled at the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with distinction in economics and a minor in political science. He worked for the U.S. government for two years, then attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he became editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. He graduated in 1990 with a J.D. degree, cum laude.

Scalia first entered government service in the United States Department of Education as an aide to William J. Bennett, the U.S. Secretary of Education, from 1985 to 1987. From 1992 to 1993, he served as Special Assistant to Attorney General William P. Barr. Scalia was in private practice in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, California. In 2000, his firm, Gibson Dunn, represented George W. Bush before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore.

He served as the Solicitor of Labor, having been appointed by President Bush in April 2001 and assuming the position in January 2002 following a recess appointment.

At the time, he was accused by Democratic senators and labor groups of being hostile to workers and criticized for his articles criticizing ergonomics.

A group of former career officials within the Department of Labor have since described Scalia as having been "very supportive of enforcement litigation to vindicate the rights of workers, both at the trial and appellate levels". In 2019, The New York Times wrote that Scalia "is perhaps best known for his opposition to a regulation that would have mandated greater protections for workers at risk of repetitive stress injuries". The regulation was repealed by Congress in 2001.