D’Esposito Confirmed As Labor Inspector General

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Long Island representative Anthony D’Esposito got a new job just a week before Christmas Thursday, as the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination for the role of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Labor.

The vote was entirely along party lines, with all 53 Republican senators voting to confirm the former NYPD detective and 43 Democrats voting against the confirmation. Among those “nay” voters were the senators from D’Esposito’s home state, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer. New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Minnesota Senator Tina Smith and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren were absent.

The new role is a return to public office for D’Esposito, who lost his congressional seat to Laura Gillen last year after defeating Gillen in 2022. During his time in office, D’Esposito was the subject of a New York Times report which claimed that he had hired his longtime fiancee’s daughter to a special assistant role in his office, paying up to $3,800 per-month; that report also claimed that D’Esposito hired Devin Faas, a woman he was allegedly having an affair with, to a part-time role in his office. D’Esposito left office after the 2024 election, which he lost by just 0.4 percentage points.

Newsday reported Thursday that D’Esposito had not stated whether he planned to seek reelection to the 4th-district congressional seat in 2026.

According to the Department of Labor (DOL), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducts audits and administrative, civil and criminal investigations into DOL programs, the people carrying them out and any potential violations of federal labor law. The office also carries out criminal investigations in efforts to stop organized crime and racketeering in employee benefit plans, labor-management relations and internal affairs. Finally, the OIG also cooperates with law enforcement in efforts to stop human trafficking.