On a Capitol Hill morning otherwise dominated by Gorsuch hearings, the deafening drip of surveillance revelations, and a possible health care upset, one much quieter event might have presaged what normalcy may, one hopes, come. Alexander Acosta, Labor secretary-designate number two, answered queries from senators on the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) about his career’s few notable snarls and his unwillingness to play politics. Mostly, though, he pledged to protect the country’s evolving workforce fully and fairly. An image of steadiness and stable moral standard emerged—a reassuring picture of boring and upright governance, in other words. Yes, that’s still a thing.

The 48-year-old Acosta—”Alex” to his friends Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who introduced him—casts an almost absurd contrast to the president’s first pick, Andrew Puzder. The just recently resigned fast-food CEO of Carl’s Jr. fame saw his nomination for the post crash and burn last month, amid news of a complicated history of spousal abuse allegations and the revelation he employed an illegal immigrant he paid in cash.