Acting Labor secretary named while Solis awaits vote

[Earth Bound Misfit]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/acting-labor-secretary-named-while-solis-vote-held-2009-02-04.html

President Obama has named an acting Labor secretary while his top choice for the post, Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), is being blocked in the Senate.

Obama on Monday tapped Ed Hugler, a career Labor employee and the deputy assistant secretary for operations, to serve as acting secretary, a Labor Department official told The Hill.

An anonymous senator has put a hold on Solis's nomination. She appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last month, but the committee has yet to vote on her nomination.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) has questioned whether Solis had done lobbying work while she was both a House member and an official at a pro-labor group, American Rights at Work. Solis said she didn't do any lobbying and hasn't violated any rules. Republicans have also criticized her for failing to give specifics during her confirmation hearing last month about her views on the Employee Free Choice Act, a union-backed bill that would make it easier for workers to organize and is strongly opposed by Republicans and businesses.

A spokesman for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told the Associated Press that the committee could vote on Solis's nomination as early as Wednesday.

[malletgirl02]

1. Anonymous Holds

Maybe they serve a purpose, but I really don't like the idea of anonymous holds. They are the oposite of open government.