Senate Leaves Town Without Confirming Labor Dept. Nominees
Written by Bruce Goldstein Sunday, 09 August 2009 09:44
The U.S. Senate recessed for a month without confirming or even voting on the nominations by President Obama for the positions of Solicitor of Labor (the DOL's chief lawyer), Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, or Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. The Senate should have already confirmed Patricia Smith, William Spriggs and Lorelei Boylan.
The failure to allow the President to place leaders of his choice in these positions severaly harms the Department's capacity to enforce farmworkers' rights and improve the operation of the agency. The Senate's parliamentary rules (and lack of them) allow individuals substantial power. The failure of the Senate majority to force these long-delayed confirmations over the objection of whoever is stalling is harming the most vulnerable working people in this country.
The battle over the Sotomayor nomination to the Supreme Court supposedly centered on whether she would interpret and enforce the law as written. Undoubtedly some of the same Senators who used that disingenuous argument are opposing the DOL nominations, which has the effect (mostly likely the desired one) of preventing enforcement of the labor laws.
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