Labor Secretary Alex Acosta is resigning

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 12 July 2019

Labor Secretary Alex Acosta is out.

Acosta will step down by the end of next week, President Trump announced Friday. Trump and Acosta, who spoke with reporters about the exit, said it was Acosta's decision; Acosta said "I do not think it is right or fair" to draw focus to himself amid the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, reports Bloomberg. "I thought the right thing was to step aside."

The Labor Secretary has drawn scrutiny for his handling of Epstein's plea deal over a decade ago — Epstein was convicted of sexually abusing underage girls, and critics say Acosta played a major role as a Florida prosecutor in giving him a relatively light sentence for the crime. At a press conference this week, Acosta defended his handling of the case, including his decision to negotiate a non-prosecution agreement without keeping the victims informed, which a federal judge said was a violation of the law. Over the weekend, Epstein was arrested on new sex trafficking charges.

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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

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