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Marty Walsh set to be first to quit Biden Cabinet — for NHLPA job

Feb. 7, 2023
Marty Walsh set to be first to quit Biden Cabinet — for NHLPA job

WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is expected to resign to become executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association — making him the first member of President Biden’s cabinet to leave his position, sources told The Post Tuesday.

Walsh’s looming departure, a widespread rumor in Washington in recent days, was first reported by the Daily Faceoff.

The White House and Labor Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

The NHLPA has been searching for a replacement for current executive director Donald Fehr, who has headed the union since 2010. The PA’s executive board met to consider their options last week in Miami ahead of the NHL All-Star Game, and a formal vote of the 32 player representatives is expected in the coming days.

The Daily Faceoff reported that Walsh is negotiating a contract with the NHLPA that will allow him to move back to his hometown of Boston and earn around $3 million per year — a sizable increase from the $221,400 per annum the labor secretary currently makes.

Walsh, 55, was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature for nearly two decades before serving as Boston’s mayor from 2014 to 2021 and then joining Biden’s administration. He is expected to lead the NHLPA into the next round of collective bargaining, with the current labor deal set to expire after the 2025-26 season.

Although a relatively low-profile member of Biden’s team, Walsh gained the spotlight last year during failed negotiations with railway unions to avoid a strike.

Some unions rejected a Biden administration-brokered deal, citing a continued lack of paid sick days, resulting in passage of White House-backed legislation late last year to force workers to take the deal anyhow.

Biden’s cabinet has been much more stable than his predecessor Donald Trump’s. Biden completed two years in office on Jan. 20 without a single departure — while seven changes took place during the same period of Trump’s presidency.


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