The nomination of Thomas Perez for Labor Secretary has been endorsed by a Senate panel, but judging from the intensely partisan vote, it will be a tough vote when it goes to the full Senate. The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Comittee (HELP) committee voted 12-10 for Perez, with all Republicans voting no.
On the Senate floor yesterday, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio said about Perez, “We have a nominee right now to the Labor Department who has an admirable personal story which I admire and applaud but who has a history of using the government and his position in government to intimidate people to do what he wants them to do,” said Rubio. Other Republicans have said Perez, who is Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, is too ideological.
This is disputed by other Republicans who have come out in support of Perez, who would be the first and as of now only Latino in the president’s second-term Cabinet. John R. Dunne, who had Perez’ same job at the Justice Department in the first Bush Administration, wrote a letter to Senate leaders saying he hired and worked with Perez, “and as a result of those experiences, I found Tom to be an excellent lawyer, a dedicated public servant with a deep commitment to the common good.”
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New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez lashed out today at the Republican Senators in the HELP committee who voted against the nomination. “At a time when Republicans should be reaching out to Hispanic Americans rather than reverting back to the same old political strategies that failed them during the last election, it is unfortunate that the president’s first Hispanic choice for his second-term cabinet continues to be under attack,” said Menendez. “I urge my Republican colleagues to stop the obstructionism and do what’s right for the country: vote to confirm Tom Perez as the next Secretary of Labor when his nomination comes before the full Senate for consideration,” added Menendez, who chairs the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force.
Today California Democratic Congresswoman Linda Sanchez and 138 House Democrats sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to ensure Perez gets confirmed by the full Senate. The legislators touted the fact that Perez has worked for both Democrat and Republican administrations. They also stated Perez had successfully increased human trafficking prosecutions and ensured enforcement of voting rights laws in his current role, as well as enforced wage protection laws as Maryland’s Labor Secretary.
Many of the nation’s most prominent Latino leaders have been denouncing Republican opposition to Perez.
“We are outraged over the unjustified and unfair delays in his confirmation and in the unjust treatment of his nomination,” said Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza.
Most Republican leaders have expressed the need to reach out to Latino voters after their dismal showing in the 2012 elections. The question is whether they will keep Latino voters in mind as they vote on whether to confirm a son of Dominican immigrants to the nation’s top Labor post.
“While I am sure Republicans are sensitive to the fact that the Perez nomination definitely matters to many Latinos, I suspect that if it were a major issue to Republicans you wouldn’t see such a clear difference in today’s vote,” says University of New Mexico political scientist Gabriel Sanchez. “When it comes to the full Senate, it will probably be an individually-based decision for some Republican Senators, depending on their districts,” Sanchez adds.
If there are not enough votes, the question is whether Senate Majority Leader Reid will consider the “nuclear option” — where Senate Democrats vote to change Senate rules to prevent Republicans from filibustering the nomination by requiring 60 votes.
In the meantime, for some Latino leaders, a Perez rejection goes beyond the nominee.
“Senators who are threatening to filibuster him and prevent an up-or-down on his confirmation are filibustering the Latino community,” said Hector Sanchez, chair of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and executive director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLLA).
















