Trump to nominate Eugene Scalia as new secretary of labor

The White House has confirmed President Donald Trump's Twitter announcement that Eugene Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is his pick to become the next secretary of labor.

The White House officially made the announcement of its intent to nominate Scalia on Tuesday, one month after the president said he would be doing so on Twitter.

The president made the announcement via Twitter on July 19, praising Scalia's work as a lawyer and in the field of labor.

The president's announcement of Scalia to fill the post came less than a week after the president announced that Alexander Acosta had submitted his resignation as labor secretary amid a firestorm over a prior plea deal Acosta secured for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The announcement came after Scalia was spotted at the White House in mid-July. An aide familiar with the search process confirmed that Scalia was there to interview for the job as labor secretary and that the president extended the job offer directly to Scalia earlier in the day before the announcement on Twitter.

A person familiar with the matter said that Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., recommended Scalia as a possibility for the post to the president earlier the week, and that the president liked the idea. Cotton also consulted with his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Scalia, according to the aide, and all three men were present for Scalia's interview with the president on Thursday.