Washington, July 20 -- Eugene Scalia has a decades-long record of challenging Labor Department and other federal regulations, as well as a famous last name. The combination proved irresistible to President Donald Trump.

Trump selected Scalia Thursday to be his new labor secretary. If formally nominated and confirmed, he'll join an administration that has moved aggressively to reverse regulations and work under a president who had repeatedly lauded Scalia's late father, Justice Antonin Scalia .

The president announced the news on Twitter less than a week after his previous secretary, Alexander Acosta, said he would resign amid renewed criticism of how, as a federal prosecutor, he handled a 2008 secret plea deal with wealthy financier Jef...