As the Senate awaits a vote on the confirmation of President Obama\u2019s nominee for secretary of labor, Thomas Perez, it is uncertain as to whether strident Republican opposition to the nominee will delay or even prevent a vote in the Democrat-controlled upper house.<\/p>\n
The last action on Perez\u2019s nomination was on May 16, when the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) voted 12-10 along party lines to report the nomination out of committee and send it to the full Senate.<\/p>\n
A Reuters report<\/a> the day of the committee vote quoted a remark made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the prior week charging that Perez has shown throughout his career a \u201cflippant and dismissive attitude about the boundaries everyone else has to follow\u201d and accused him of being an ideologue. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) also condemned Perez’s record on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n A key point of criticism made by Republicans against Perez is that he convinced St. Paul, Minnesota, officials to withdraw a Supreme Court appeal in exchange for the Justice Department not pursuing allegations that the city filed false claims in a government funding application. Perez is the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n In a speech back on May 8, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was firm in his criticism of the nominee: \u201cUnbound by the rules that apply to everyone else, Mr. Perez seems to view himself as free to employ whatever means at his disposal, legal or otherwise, to achieve his ideological goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Reuters<\/a> quoted a statement about McConnell\u2019s speech made by George Washington University\u2019s Sarah Binder, described as \u201can expert on Congress,\u201d in which Binder suggested that the GOP leader intended to rally opposition to the nomination.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it matters that it is Mitch McConnell here, laying the marker down on why he’s opposing the nominee,\u201d said Binder. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that many nominations are killed by being drawn out and wearing down the nominee,” she continued.<\/p>\n On May 8, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) made a statement that he thought Perez would be a \u201cdisastrous\u201d choice.<\/p>\n \u201cMany Americans, especially those of us of Hispanic descent, celebrate his success and his personal story,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cUnfortunately, intellect and work ethic are not sufficient qualifications for a cabinet secretary.\u201d<\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to opposition charges in a statement to reporters: \u201c[Perez] is enormously qualified and there has not been a case made that is not political and partisan against his nomination, and we hope and expect the Senate will move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tampa Bay News <\/em><\/a>quoted another statement from Rubio on May 8, in which the Florida senator pulled no punches:<\/p>\n Before joining the Obama Administration, Mr. Perez built a long record as a committed liberal activist and politician, particularly in the areas of labor and immigration. It was that record that gave many senators pause over his initial nomination to be Assistant U.S. Attorney General. Those who voted against his confirmation then feared that he lacked the capacity to put his political agenda aside when he became a federal official tasked with enforcing the law. Unfortunately, his record as Assistant U.S. Attorney General confirmed those fears.<\/p>\n In a May 9 article in the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>, <\/a>writer Juliet Eilperin continued an ongoing theme that has often been applied to the immigration reform issue: \u201cCould the campaign to block Perez\u2019s appointment damage the GOP\u2019s standing with Latinos?\u201d<\/p>\n The writer drew no firm conclusions, and balanced Sen. Rubio\u2019s Hispanic heritage as a mitigating plus against any negative political fallout that might arise from Republican opposition to Obama\u2019s sole Hispanic nominee for his second-term cabinet.<\/p>\n \u201cTom Perez has broad and deep support in the Latino community,\u201d Eilperin quoted Janet Murguia<\/a>, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s just not helpful for Republicans to be seen as taking down what is seen as a qualified candidate.\u201d But as journalist Alex Newman noted in an online article<\/a> for The New American<\/em> on July 9, 2012:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDespite receiving millions of dollars from taxpayers, \u2018La Raza\u2019 is a deeply divisive outfit known for race-mongering and advancing flawed collectivist notions of Latinos and Hispanics as a monolithic bloc rather than unique individuals\u00a0\u2013 bizarrely emphasizing \u2018race\u2019 and \u2018ethnicity,\u2019 superficial and largely irrelevant characteristics, above other, more important traits.\u201d<\/p>\n The article also quoted Glen Bolger, identified as a Republican pollster at Public Opinion Strategies, who said he is skeptical that the political battle over a Labor Secretary nominee will influence public opinion about where Republicans stand on \u201cHispanic issues.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLatino voters are paying a lot more attention to immigration reform and what happens to that than a nomination to a Cabinet post in a Cabinet that has not played a major role with this president,\u201d said Bolger. \u201cThis is a much, much smaller factor in how voters perceive the GOP than what Republicans in the House and Senate do on immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the liberal-left organizations with historic ties to the Democrat Party that are solid Perez cheerleaders is the Teamsters Union, which posted an online article on May 17 headlined \u201c<\/a>Teamsters Applaud Senate Labor Committee Vote to Approve Perez Nomination<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThomas Perez is the right choice for Labor Secretary and the Senate needs to get him confirmed as soon as possible,\u201d Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa was quoted in the article. \u201cI believe that we can take a significant step toward getting this country back on track with Perez running the Labor Department.\u201d<\/p>\n The Perez nomination vote is as sharply divided along partisan lines as most other issues. But the nominee\u2019s unfavorable track record is likely to bolster Republican efforts to derail his confirmation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bill Wilson, a member of the board of directors of Americans for Limited Government, recalled in a May 28 column <\/a>that three years ago Perez testified under oath before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights about a well-documented 2008 voter intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party. Wilson writes: \u201cDuring his testimony, Perez stated that no political leadership at the U.S. Justice Department was involved in the decision to dismiss several defendants in that high profile case. This testimony turned out to be patently false \u2013 with the Justice Department\u2019s own inspector general later noting<\/a> Perez\u2019s testimony \u2018did not reflect the entire story regarding the involvement of political appointees.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n The Perez nomination vote is not (and should not be) a referendum on the ethnic identity or friendliness to big, organized labor of the next secretary of labor, but an effort to evaluate the fitness of a Cabinet secretary to uphold the Constitution of the United States. With enough deliberation, the proper decision should be made.<\/p>\n