Solis is labor secretary after several weeks' delay

February 25, 2009

President Obama finally has a labor secretary, leaving his picks at commerce and health and human services still to go to complete his Cabinet.

The Senate voted, 80 to 17, yesterday to confirm California Representative Hilda Solis after more than a month of delay caused by Republican concerns over her pro-union activities, then by reports of tax liens against her husband's business.

Labor groups have been aggressively pushing for Solis, 51, who is to begin work today. She gives the department, with an annual budget of about $53 billion and nearly 17,000 employees, a decidedly pro-worker tilt after years of business-friendly leadership under the Bush administration.

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney called it "a huge victory" and noted that Solis is the first Latino to hold the post. "Finally Americans will have a secretary of labor who represents working people, not wealthy CEOs," he said in a statement.

Anna Burger, chairwoman of the Change to Win coalition, said that Solis "has long been a champion of working families."

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Tapping into taxpayer anger over junkets and other lavish spending by firms receiving federal aid, Senator John F. Kerry announced yesterday that he plans to introduce legislation to end such extravagance.

The Massachusetts Democrat, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, said his bill would prevent any recipient of financial bailout funds from hosting, sponsoring, or paying for conferences, holiday parties, and entertainment events.

Any firm that misused the funds would be fined and required to reimburse the government.

Kerry's office said he was responding to reports that Northern Trust bank, which received $1.6 billion in federal aid, hosted hundreds of employees and clients at expensive hotels in Beverly Hills and threw Hollywood parties last week that featured performances by Chicago and Sheryl Crow.

The bank recently laid off almost 450 workers.

Chicago-based Northern Trust issued a statement saying that the event is an important part of its marketing and was not paid for using government money.

"I'm sick and tired of picking up the newspaper and reading about another idiotic abuse of taxpayer money while our country is on the brink," Kerry said in a statement.

Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts added his outrage as well. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he and 17 other Democrats wrote yesterday to Northern Trust's CEO, demanding that it repay money spent on the soiree.

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