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Acting Labor Secretary Sonderling Discusses Workplace Antisemitism, BLS Data and Visa Fraud With Breitbart

September 14, 2026 · USDepartmentofLabor · 0:15:36

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What happened

Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling sat down with Breitbart at the Republican Jewish Coalition, which he described as the country’s leading conservative Jewish conference, according to the Labor Department video (rendered in Bengali auto-captions and paraphrased here). As a descendant of Holocaust survivors, he said the weekend mattered to him, and he noted two cabinet secretaries were present, himself and Lee Zeldin, as he stated it.

Sonderling said President Trump had taken broader action against religious bias of all kinds, including an executive order against anti-Christian bias and a Justice Department task force for all faiths, as he described them. He said antisemitism since October 7 had risen not only on campuses but in workplaces, recalling his earlier work at the EEOC issuing guidance on identifying workplace antisemitism, and said the Labor Department’s Center for Faith had launched an interactive website covering religious-accommodation and religious-discrimination law in all 50 states and where to file complaints, as he stated it. He cited an EEOC settlement with Columbia University of $21 million for employees over antisemitic incidents, as he stated the figure, and said the administration would cut federal funding to employers and schools that discriminate.

On his own path, Sonderling said his confirmation hearing was in July, he was voted out of committee at the end of July, and he hoped the Senate would take up his nomination when it returned the week of September 14, as he stated the timeline. He said that, apart from the Vice President, he would be the Cabinet’s only millennial and its youngest member, and credited Trump with a diverse Cabinet that understands the modern workforce, as he put it.

Sonderling said public trust in the Bureau of Labor Statistics had been damaged under the prior administration by large revisions — some 800,000 jobs revised away after the election, as he stated the figure — and that his department was working on reforms so the numbers are accurate and transparent. He said the data showed what Trump promised: 900,000 new private-sector jobs, as he stated it.

On immigration and jobs, Sonderling said American workers should get jobs first, arguing students should be shown high-skill, high-pay jobs that do not require a four-year degree, in manufacturing or agriculture, and that employers reliant on foreign labor should be worked with so foreign companies investing in the United States commit to hiring domestically, as he described the approach. He said the department’s inspector general was cracking down on workplace visa fraud, including in the H-1B and other H programs, with civil and criminal tools, subpoenas and litigation he called a top priority, as he stated it.

Why it matters

The interview is the fullest statement of Sonderling’s acting-secretary agenda: faith-based workplace enforcement, BLS credibility, and visa-fraud enforcement as labor policy.

Scoreboard watch

The figures as stated in the interview: an EEOC Columbia University settlement of $21 million, roughly 800,000 jobs revised away after the election under the prior administration, and 900,000 new private-sector jobs under President Trump. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no verdict is published from this page.

Sources: USDepartmentofLabor, “Secretary Keith Sonderling sits down with Breitbart to discuss new careers”, 2026-09-14 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-09-14). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.