Scott Mungo, poised to win confirmation as administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a wait of 17 months, abruptly withdrew his name from nomination on Tuesday. No reason immediately surfaced.

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Scott Mungo

The Senate was set to take a final vote on his nomination in the next few weeks. Mungo retired from FedEx Ground and Express, where he was a vice president, when he first learned of his nomination almost a year and a half ago.

In a perhaps related event at the Department of Labor (DOL), Secretary Alexander Acosta’s chief of staff, Nicholas Geale, was forced out by the White House Monday on grounds that he was a divisive figure who often berated employees at the department.

Acosta was also rumored to be trying to talk Mungo out of his withdrawal, but sources said his decision appeared final.

The office of OSHA administrator has been vacant since Donald Trump became president.