Thomas Perez — Labor Secretary
 Labor Secretary nominee Thomas Perez listens on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 18, 2013, as he testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on his nomination. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) |
Status: Approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; awaiting confirmation by the Senate.
Thomas Perez is currently the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. Republicans have fixated on one case in which they allege Perez brokered a quid pro quo arrangement with the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. They claim that Perez asked the city to withdraw a Supreme Court appeal of a housing discrimination lawsuit in exchange for a DOJ promise not to join two whistleblower complaints against the city. Perez says that, while he was involved in the arrangement described, he consulted ethics experts and that his superiors made the final call. To delay Perez from getting through committee, Senate Republicans objected to an obscure procedural rule that prevented a Senate committee from meeting while the full Senate is in session. Democrats moved ahead with the vote by having a committee meeting early in the morning, when the full Senate was not in session. The committee endorsed Perez on May 16 with all Republicans voting “no.” The New York Times reports he will likely face a filibuster. |
