Report: Mulvaney wants Trump to give Acosta the boot

Mick Mulvaney.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Top Democrats and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney all want Labor Secretary Alex Acosta out — but for different reasons.

In 2008, investigators in Florida found evidence that financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused dozens of underage girls. Acosta, then a federal prosecutor, cut a deal with Epstein that allowed him to plead guilty to a charge of soliciting prostitution, serving minimal time in prison. Over the weekend, Epstein was arrested and accused of operating a sex trafficking ring, bringing renewed attention to the 2008 agreement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have both called on Acosta to resign, and at the White House, Mulvaney has been pushing Trump to dump the secretary, Politico reports. Mulvaney has told Trump Acosta is hurting the administration, but Mulvaney hasn't been a fan for awhile; people with knowledge of the matter told Politico Mulvaney and other conservatives have long complained that Acosta isn't doing enough to roll back Obama-era workplace regulations or tackle employment discrimination lawsuits, and they want him out for this reason.

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Trump stood by Acosta on Tuesday, telling reporters he has "been just an excellent secretary of labor."

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.