Republican Double Standard for Labor Secretary
Senate Republicans are continuing the same partisan, roadblock political games that voters said they’d had enough of in November.
This time their stubborn gamesmanship threatens the working families across the country: They are trying to derail President Obama’s economic recovery plan and block his pick of Hilda Solis as secretary of labor.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says: “Enough is enough.”
We cannot continue to fiddle as the economy burns. It is urgent for the American people to have an aggressive, emergency economic recovery plan that will put people back to work and keep families in their homes, and a strong Department of Labor.
Solis Vote Postponed, But No Hold on Her Nomination
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee postponed a scheduled vote today on the nomination of Hilda Solis for secretary of labor. President Obama announced his choice of Solis in December, and the Senate committee held a hearing on her nomination Jan. 9.
Some news reports have pointed to Republican opposition to Solis over the Employee Free Choice Act—she was a co-sponsor of the bill in the U.S. House—and suggested there may have been plans to place a hold on her nomination by a Republican senator.
But in a joint statement, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the committee chairman, and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the panel’s ranking minority member, said the vote was postponed
to allow members additional time to review the documentation submitted in support of Representative Solis’ nomination to serve in the important position of labor secretary. There are no holds on her nomination, and members on both sides of the aisle remain committed to giving her nomination the fair and thorough consideration that she deserves. We will continue to work together to move this nomination forward as soon as possible.
