No, he's not an expert in health or safety, but he used to be the lobbyist for Metabolife.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao announced on Dec. 14, 2004, the appointment of Jonathan Snare as the deputy assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, to replace the outgoing OSHA head John Henshaw. Although Snare will oversee the safety and health of 100 million workers under OSHA’s jurisdiction, it was not deemed important enough for significant media coverage.
Prior to joining OSHA, Snare was in private practice in Texas with Jackson and Walker, LLP, a firm whose web site boasts its areas of expertise include “union avoidance campaigns.” Snare was a paid lobbyist for Metabolife, the nation’s leading producer of ephedra products. Ephedra was finally banned after the FDA received reports of many deaths due to this harmful supplement.
As election operations vice-president of the Republican National Lawyers Committee, Snare helped organize and train Republican lawyers to go to South Dakota and other states to make sure that Democrats and Native Americans didn’t “steal the election.” He also served as general counsel to the Texas Senate Redistricting Committee and general counsel to the Republican Party of Texas.
It is clear what the future has to hold…