Government Executive - Authors - Kasie Hunt

IG will investigate whether department misused funds

Kasie Hunt — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Education Department's inspector general will investigate whether the administration misused federal money when officials pushed colleges and universities to change how they make student loans, according to a letter sent to lawmakers on Monday.

House Education and Labor ranking member John Kline, R-Minn., asked for the review after Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote and called schools to urge them to abandon the Federal Family Education Loan program in favor of the Education Department's Direct Lending program. The administration wants to eliminate FFEL and use the estimated $79.6 billion in savings to increase aid to low-income students.

Kline asked Mary Mitchelson, the acting inspector general at Education, to investigate whether the administration violated the annual appropriations bill's stipulation that federal money not be used for lobbying activities.

"The calls made to institutions of higher education were clearly designed to persuade these institutions to switch to the administration's favored Direct Loan program, despite the fact that Congress has not mandated the switch," Kline wrote in a Nov. 25 letter to Mitchelson. "This type of activity is symptomatic of a brand of politics that employs deception and public pressure to combat political adversaries," he wrote.

The House passed legislation in September that would require schools to make the switch before students begin arriving for the fall 2010 semester. But the bill has stalled in the Senate, leaving colleges hanging; emergency legislation that would keep money flowing through FFEL has a July expiration.

The timeline for the investigation is unclear. In her Monday letter, Mitchelson said the investigation would begin "as soon as staff resources are available."

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Administration says public option still possible

Kasie Hunt — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The Obama administration on Tuesday insisted that including a public option in a health reform overhaul was still a possibility.

"Here's the bottom line: Absolutely nothing has changed. We continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice and keep private insurers honest," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday morning at an event on Medicare fraud.

"If people have other ideas about how to accomplish these goals, we'll look at those, too, but the public option is a very good way to do this," she said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday morning that reports of a shift in administration policy were exaggerated, and the White House did not intend to signal a new position. "If it was a signal, it was a dog whistle we started blowing weeks ago," Gibbs said on Tuesday.

The furor erupted on Sunday after Sebelius said the public option was not essential to a healthcare overhaul. Tuesday, she sought to dismiss it by saying "Sunday must have been a very slow news day."

Democrats have spent the August recess weathering fire from Republicans and other conservatives who claim a public option would amount to a government takeover of health care.

The six Senate Finance Committee members working to negotiate a bipartisan bill will not include a public option in their plan.

"We're trying to get bipartisan cooperation, and one of those things is not to have a government-run health plan," Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday on Fox News.

During a separate appearance on MSNBC, Grassley said he would vote against any healthcare bill coming out of the Finance Committee if it does not have wide Republican support.

"I'm negotiating for Republicans. If I can't negotiate something that gets more than four Republicans, I'm not a good negotiator," he said.

Finance Committee negotiators are slated to continue ongoing negotiations via telephone this week, sources said.

Over the weekend and again on Tuesday Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said a bill that includes a public option could not get 60 votes in the Senate, and even the Senate's strong supporters of a public option are starting to acknowledge the political difficulty of including one.

"It is only a part of reform. It is an important part," Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told a room full of medical educators, students and physicians at Wayne State University's School of Medicine on Tuesday. "Those of us on the inside are looking at what we can do and looking at the votes."

The bill passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee includes a public option, as do all three of the versions approved by House committees -- and the comments from administration officials came after liberal Democrats insisted a bill without a public option was unacceptable.

"To take the public option off the table would be a grave error; passage in the House of Representatives depends upon inclusion of it," Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to Sebelius on Monday. Grijalva and Woolsey co-chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Lee is chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The lawmakers also included a second letter -- sent this summer and signed by more than 50 liberal Democrats -- insisting that a public option be included in legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said House leaders back a public option but stopped short of saying it was necessary in order to pass a bill.

"There is strong support in the House for a public option," she said. "A public option is the best option to lower costs, improve the quality of health care, ensure choice and expand coverage."

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Panel lightly trims Labor-HHS spending bill

Kasie Hunt — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Friday approved a $160.7 billion fiscal 2010 spending bill at a price tag $52 million lower than President Obama requested.

"I indicated that we faced some very hard choices this year," House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said. "These adjustments are important for setting the right priorities within the pending allocation, for getting the deficit under control, and for creating a government that is as efficient as it is effective."

With stimulus and emergency money flowing to the Health and Human Services and the Education departments in recent months, lawmakers targeted some of the programs on the receiving end. Appropriators cut by more than 20 percent Obama's request for Title I funding for disadvantaged children, but the program did receive $13 billion in the economic stimulus. The panel also pared back the school innovation and improvement fund, other areas that saw stimulus money. And HHS saw a $578 million reduction in money Obama wanted for public health emergencies, a 20 percent cut. But that comes on the heels of $7.65 billion in emergency funding to combat the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

The bill reduces Obama's request for the Corporation for National and Community Service until the agency demonstrates it has improved internal operations.

Overall, HHS would receive $73.7 billion, an extra $2 billion above Obama's request. The panel rejected an Obama proposal to send more money specifically to cancer research centers, instead providing $31.3 billion to the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research.

The Education Department will receive $64.7 billion, but the panel rejected an Obama proposal to cut $1.5 billion in Title I funding and use the money for other programs. However, many of the administration's new proposals -- including $10 million for "Promise Neighborhoods" modeled on the Harlem Children's Zone and $156 million for charter schools -- remain.

The Labor Department will receive $13.3 billion, $846 million more than fiscal 2009 but $23 million below the administration's request. Obey said more than half of the additional funding will go to help states process rising unemployment claims.

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FDA chief: More money is needed for inspections

Kasie Hunt — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The money included in a proposed food safety overhaul will not cover the cost of the new inspections required by the bill, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told lawmakers on Wednesday.

"The amount of resources required to achieve these inspection goals would far exceed even the historic increases in the president's fiscal 2010 budget," she told the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. "FDA would support modification of these provisions to take into account the operational challenges involved, such as by changing these inspection frequencies."

Hamburg said approximately 378,000 food facilities are registered with the FDA, and inspecting a domestic facility costs more than $900,000. Inspecting a facility overseas costs almost three times more.

The bill would require FDA to inspect high-risk facilities as frequently as every six months. It imposes a flat $1,000 registration fee for food companies, which is expected to generate $375 million per year for the agency. The bill also requires food companies to pay the costs of FDA re-inspections and those related to food recalls. In addition, President Obama's budget includes $260 million for food safety.

Industry groups oppose the fees and Republicans are concerned about how the funds generated would be used. "If the goal is to improve food safety, we must ensure that funds are not funneled into other activities that may or may not have anything to do with ensuring food safety," said Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee ranking member Nathan Deal, R-Ga.

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., said the money in the draft bill has "no explanation, no earmarking, no direction." He added: "What justifies that amount? How are we going to ensure that it's not going to be used for other purposes?"

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., argued the fees were justified. "The bill simply asks industry to chip in its fair share" to ensure food safety, he said.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a leading proponent of the fees, agreed. "We are about to try and fund an agency which is hollow, which does not have either the personnel or the revenue or the money that it needs to do its job," he said.

Energy and Commerce Health Subommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the bill "provides FDA with the necessary resources and enforcement authorities to ensure that all companies are in compliance with the new requirements," adding that the panel expected to mark it up next week.

Food companies said they were open to paying some fees, but worry about their scope. "We are not opposed to all fees," said Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. "We are concerned about the size and purpose of the significant new fees proposed in the discussion draft."

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Obama spending plan for union monitoring office drawing fire

Kasie Hunt — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama's budget proposal to reduce funding for the Labor Department office responsible for overseeing labor unions is sparking an outcry from business leaders and Republicans.

Obama asked for $41 million for the Office of Labor-Management Standards, a 9 percent drop from last year's $45 million. Unions have to send annual financial disclosure reports to the office, which then investigates fraud and embezzlement. The cut would "more appropriately reflect the agency's workload," the budget said.

"It is a tremendous disappointment to see where the administration chose to cut," said House Education and Labor Committee ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon, R-Calif. OLMS is "the only office in the federal government tasked with overseeing union leaders and protecting rank-and-file workers," he said. "Workers deserve better."

The cut comes after the department's proposal last month to rescind a regulation that would make unions' reporting requirements more stringent. The rule, proposed by the Bush administration in January, would have required unions to report more information about salaries for union bosses, management of unions' assets, and other matters.

Obama's budget increased funding for the other offices within the Employment Standards Administration, which monitors whether employers are complying with wage and hour laws.

The department's ability to police the country's more than 7 million employers has dropped dramatically while OLMS has more than enough money to oversee the country's 23,000 local unions, said Rachel Racusen, spokeswoman for House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif. "The Obama administration is correcting years of cuts in other vital areas that have left our nation's workers with fewer basic protections in the workplace," she said.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the office had enough money to adequately police unions. "The department will maintain its commitment to ensuring union democracy, transparency and the lawful use of labor union monies," she said.

Business groups criticized the cut. "Here we have the unions in power, and they're cutting the enforcement budget. It's a clear payback to the unions," said Randel Johnson, vice president for labor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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Homeland secretary sees no reason to close border with Mexico

Kasie Hunt — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Closing the U.S. border with Mexico would not help prevent the spread of swine flu, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano told lawmakers on Wednesday.

"Making such a closure right now has not been merited by the facts," Napolitano said at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.

"I don't think there are any" conditions that would warrant closing the border, added Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, the interim deputy director for science and public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in response to questioning from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

"The most effective strategy right now is to focus on where we have illness," she said.

McCain remained unconvinced. "We need to be prepared to close the border with Mexico if the swine flu outbreak escalates further," he said. "I hope you'll continue to revisit this issue of whether we need to close the border or not."

Some senators urged caution. "We need to let science lead the way here and make reasonable decisions, rational decisions," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Acting CDC Director Richard Besser said 91 cases of the H1N1 virus have emerged in 10 states, with 51 in New York, 16 in Texas and 14 in California. Two each have been confirmed in Kansas, Massachusetts and Michigan, with single cases in Arizona, Indiana, Nevada and Ohio. Officials also announced the first U.S. death from swine flu, a nearly 2-year-old Mexican boy in Texas.

Napolitano said the $1.5 billion for swine flu that President Obama requested on Tuesday be included in the supplemental spending bill would be used primarily to purchase antiviral medication if needed. The number "is a rough estimate and it is gauged on perhaps having to purchase more antivirals," she said. She told lawmakers her department has enough money to deal with the crisis in the interim until the supplemental funding bill is approved. The country has stockpiled 50 million courses of antiviral drugs, some of which are set aside for distribution to states. Twenty-five percent of the states' allotment will be sent by Sunday, Napolitano said.

"We have placed priority on states with confirmed cases of H1N1 and of course with the Southwest border," she said.

Customs and Border Protection officials are using "passive surveillance" to monitor whether travelers coming into the United States are ill, she said, which prompted lawmakers to call for more intensive scrutiny. "Other countries are being far more aggressive in their screening," said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine. "I would really hope that we would pursue vigorously better technological and scientific and, frankly, closer observation of people going across the border than is currently the case," McCain said.

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IG report finds holes in food-tracing system

Kasie Hunt — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The government is ill-equipped to deal with a bioterrorism attack or an outbreak of food-borne illness because the system used to trace food products is ineffective, according to a government report released Thursday.

The Health and Human Services Department inspector general's office purchased 40 different food products from retail shelves, but investigators could trace only five of them through each stage of the food-supply chain.

In four of the 40 cases, investigators could not even identify facilities likely to have handled the food.

"In these cases, at least one facility in the food supply chain failed to provide any information about the potential sources of the products," the report said.

"Traceability today simply is not good enough," House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said at a subcommittee hearing on the report Thursday. "We have a responsibility, in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak, to effectively find the source of contamination as quickly as possible to prevent further illness and even death."

Food facilities are required by law to maintain information about where products and ingredients come from, where they go and how they get there. But over 50 percent of facilities did not meet the requirements, and a full 25 percent were completely unaware the rules existed.

"These factors affect [the Food and Drug Administration's] ability to identify the source of a contamination and remove unsafe food products from the food supply chain," HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson told the subcommittee.

Levinson said problems occur when companies do not keep information about specific lots of food products and that some facilities -- including distributors, wholesalers, and food-storage facilities -- are exempt from the requirements. He added that products are often mixed with other products from a large number of different farms.

The report recommended that FDA ask for greater authority to require food producers and handlers to keep better records, particularly to track specific lots. Investigators also recommended granting FDA the authority to request access to food records at any time. Under existing rules, the agency can look at a company's data only if the government has reasonable grounds to believe there might be contamination.

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Solis is first Cabinet nominee to face cloture vote

Kasie Hunt — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., will be the first of President Obama's Cabinet nominees to need 60 senators to back her when the Senate votes to move to her nomination on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scheduled the cloture vote last week after Republicans could not agree on timing, a GOP aide said.

In a letter sent to Reid's office last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wrote that "prior to considering any time agreements on the floor on any nominee" the nominee would have to meet a set of criteria, including answering questions and meeting with members.

A spokesman for Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., has characterized the weeks-long delay of Solis' confirmation as largely procedural. But Democratic aides said it was a "shot over the bow" on controversial card-check legislation that would make it easier to form unions. Labor and Hispanic groups have stepped up the pressure in favor of Solis' nomination in recent days. HELP Republicans have said Solis was unresponsive to questions about card check at her confirmation hearing and sent several rounds of follow-up questions to her. They also raised questions about her unpaid position on the board of the pro-union group American Rights at Work. A committee vote on her nomination was postponed after reports noting her husband paid $6,400 to settle 15 tax liens against his small business in California. The committee approved her nomination last week by voice vote with two Republicans -- Sens. Pat Roberts of Kansas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma -- voting "no."

Dan Friedman contributed to this report.

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Senate confirms former lobbyist as Defense deputy

Megan Scully and Kasie Hunt — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed William Lynn, a Raytheon executive and former company lobbyist, to be deputy Defense secretary by a 93-4 vote.

At the same time, two Senate panels approved the nominations of Leon Panetta to head the CIA and Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as Labor secretary, sending both appointments to the Senate floor for votes this month.

Lynn's confirmation came after several senators, including Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., expressed concerns in recent weeks about the former lobbyist taking over the Pentagon's No. 2 slot.

McCain ultimately dropped his objections and supported Lynn for the post after Lynn provided additional details about his lobbying activities and how that might affect his performance.

But Lynn still faced opposition on the floor from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who raised concerns about Lynn's connections to Raytheon, one of the country's largest defense contractors. And Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, criticized policies Lynn adopted while serving as the Pentagon's chief financial officer during the Clinton administration.

"At this point, we simply don't know what Mr. Lynn will do. I don't own a crystal ball. That's all in the future. That's an unknown," Grassley said in his prepared floor remarks. "But we do know something about what he did in the past as the DoD CFO. As CFO, he advocated very questionable accounting practices that were not in the public interest."

Aside from Coburn and Grassley, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., also voted against Lynn's nomination. McCaskill, a former state auditor, raised concerns about Lynn's lobbying background during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing last month.

Meanwhile, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved Solis' nomination as Labor secretary by voice vote.

The Senate will vote on her confirmation as soon as possible, said a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., but Republican opposition could push it past the Presidents Day recess. Two committee Republicans -- Coburn and Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas -- recorded "no" votes in the HELP Committee. Their opposition would prevent Solis from being confirmed by unanimous consent.

The Senate Intelligence Committee's approval of Panetta for CIA director came during a closed meeting, said panel spokesman Philip LaVelle. Panetta, a former House member and White House chief of staff, was approved without opposition, he said. The full Senate is expected to confirm Panetta this week.

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Unions press GOP senators to confirm Labor nominee

Kasie Hunt — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Labor groups are stepping up the pressure on Senate Republicans to confirm Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as Labor secretary as Republicans press for more details about her husband's tax troubles.

"We are trying to activate our members to reach and speak out to our senators to tell them how important it is that we have Hilda Solis' leadership in the Labor Department," said Ramona Oliver, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union.

The group sent a blast e-mail to members and distributed a memo accusing Republicans of hostility toward workers. "The Republicans in general are trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Solis," Oliver said.

Solis' nomination has been stalled for weeks amid concerns from Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Republicans over her stance on card-check legislation and her unpaid position on the board of the pro-union group American Rights at Work.

A committee vote on her nomination was postponed last week after reports her husband paid $6,400 to settle 15 tax liens against his small business in California.

Republicans said the delay was procedural. "We are still waiting information to come in on the tax lien issues," said Craig Orfield, spokesman for Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.

He said after Enzi receives answers to the fourth round of questions related to the tax issues and distributes them to committee Republicans, senators will be able to move forward.

"It takes time to gather and review information and pertinent data when questions arise. That's what's going on right now," he said.

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Officials say 1 million to 2 million visitors expected for inauguration

Kasie Hunt — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Between 1 million and 2 million people are expected to flood the city for President-elect Obama's inauguration Tuesday, less than half the original estimated number, organizers said Friday. That figure is based partly on a lower-than-expected number of requests for tour bus permits.

The city initially thought more than 10,000 tour buses would ask for space, but officials have fewer than half that number of requests.

The announcement came at a news conference hosted by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who is in charge of organizing inaugural events at the Capitol. She said her committee is spending $1.2 million on the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural luncheon held immediately afterward.

The Architect of the Capitol has a $3.5 million budget for the infrastructure, including the platform, chairs and other structures.

Feinstein said her office received more than 60,000 requests for tickets to the swearing-in ceremony; each Senate office received only 300. Each House member received just 200.

Some tickets were reserved for special requests, officials said, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., received an additional 600 to help her meet requests from district residents. Feinstein said anyone receiving tickets from her office will have to sign a pledge not to sell them. Earlier this week, the Senate passed a bill prohibiting the sale and counterfeiting of inaugural tickets.

The ceremony is planned to the minute. Feinstein has exactly four minutes for her opening remarks and one minute to introduce evangelical minister Rick Warren, who will give the invocation. Warren's selection sparked an outcry by gay-rights organizations. "All my introductions are very formal," Feinstein said of introducing Warren. "I respect the president's choice." If Obama sticks to the schedule, his inaugural address will be exactly 20 minutes long, and he will leave the platform at 12:31 p.m.

Concerns about cold weather have officials preparing a plan to move the ceremony to the Capitol's Statuary Hall, the original House chamber inside the Capitol. In 1985, then-President Ronald Reagan made the call to be sworn in inside due to the cold.

Feinstein said Obama would be reluctant to move the ceremony indoors, in part because the assembled crowd would be shut out. "The president-elect really expects it to be outside," Feinstein said.

After the ceremony, the customary inaugural luncheon will be held in Statuary Hall. Feinstein said organizing the lunch is difficult because of limited space, adding that the guest list was determined by "pure protocol" and historical precedent. The exception, she said, was the invitation for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who wanted to attend even though the city's mayor had never been invited before.

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Immigrant, union groups see Labor nominee as ally

Kasie Hunt — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

President-elect Barack Obama on Friday offered a bridge between business, labor and community advocates when he announced he is nominating the daughter of immigrant workers to head the Labor Department.

Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., whose Mexico-born father was a Teamsters union steward and whose mother came from Nicaragua, has championed labor and immigration causes during her four terms in Congress.

While business groups are wary of Solis' support of labor priorities like "card check" legislation, which would make it easier to form a union, they said immigration could be an area of common ground.

"Immigration might be an area we can work with her on," said Randel Johnson, vice president for immigration and labor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Latino community advocates praised the nomination of Solis, the third Hispanic official to be named to Obama's Cabinet, following Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado to head Interior and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to lead Commerce. They were also optimistic about her potential impact on the immigration debate.

"She's going to be very well versed in this area, so we know she'll be very mindful of the labor concerns that we always have when it comes to retaliation, when it comes to protections of migrant workers," said John Amaya, a legislative attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund.

Eliseo Medina, executive vice president at the Service Employees International Union and a former farm worker, said Solis' personal experience will help orient Labor toward immigration concerns.

"For the first time we are going to have someone that will be advocating not only ... the public safety of workers, but also that immigration reform is an integral part of that," he said.

In the past, labor unions have been reluctant to push for a boost in the number of temporary visas for guest workers. Earlier this year, some lawmakers backed an unsuccessful bill to effectively raise the number of H-2B temporary visas for nonagricultural guest workers. Capped at 66,000, this year's allotment ran out within weeks.

"People are really going to have to really, really dig deep on it when it comes to the kinds of visas that we're looking at, the kinds of labor protections that we're going to be asking for, and certainly the number of visas that business and labor want, versus those that we want," Amaya said.

Still, the most controversial issue is how to deal with the 12 million undocumented workers in the United States. "Some of the advocates out there think they can push through a legalization bill without a temporary worker program," said the Chamber's Johnson. He added that business opposition to such legislation could derail such legislation. Congress could deal with some less controversial immigration-related issues separately from comprehensive reform.

A bill to overhaul the H2-A farm-worker visa program and provide temporary farm workers with a path to legal status could be combined with legislation allowing college graduates to obtain green cards, Johnson said. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act failed in the Senate last year.

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Obama to nominate Solis to head Labor Department

Kasie Hunt — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., will be nominated to be Labor secretary in the Obama administration, a labor official said on Thursday. Solis, 51, was elected to Congress in 2000 from a heavily Democratic district that includes part of Los Angeles.

Before that, she served as President Jimmy Carter's director of Office of Hispanic Affairs and spent six years in the California state House and Senate.

She has a strong background on union issues, having worked to unionize farm workers in California and co-sponsoring "card check" legislation that would allow workers to form unions by signing authorization cards.

"Hilda Solis is a very strong champion of working families and will be an outstanding secretary of Labor," said House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif.

Labor leaders were also pleased by the pick. "The new secretary of Labor is terrific. We are incredibly enthusiastic about her," said Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and chairwoman of the union political federation Change to Win.

"We have a department of Labor that is built for the 19th century, not the 21st century, and I think Hilda Solis will be terrific at changing this."

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Obama’s pick for Education secretary garners widespread praise

Kasie Hunt — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

"For years we've talked our education problems to death in Washington, but we failed to act, stuck in the same tired debates that have stymied our progress, all along failing to acknowledge that both sides have good ideas and good intentions," Obama said.

Duncan has served as chief executive of Chicago public schools since 2001. Obama praised his embrace of diverse methods for improving education. Duncan is "not beholden to one ideology" but shares with the president-elect a "deep pragmatism in terms of how we go about" improving education, Obama said.

In Chicago, Duncan closed a failing school and reopened it as an academy where students learned from teachers pursuing degrees in higher education. He supported master teacher certification, backed public charter schools and linked teacher pay to school performance. Duncan has called education "the civil rights issue of our generation."

The choice pleased teachers unions and education reformers. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, lauded Duncan's collaboration with Chicago's teacher unions. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who has championed reform and tough accountability standards, called Duncan "a visionary leader and fellow reformer who cares deeply about students."

House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller said Duncan is "an experienced and accomplished leader who is open to the new, bold and innovative ideas needed to truly improve our schools." A spokeswoman for Education and Labor ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon said Duncan "has earned a reputation as a reformer who's not afraid to shake up the status quo in order to improve student achievement, and his appointment is a welcome sign."

Congress has yet to tackle a reauthorization of President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation, and advocates and detractors of the bill say the 111th Congress needs to make changes to it. So far, lawmakers have been unable to agree on the best way to hold students and teachers accountable for results in the classroom. Unions have balked over proposed merit pay for teachers.

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DHS seeks approval on employment verification rule fix

Kasie Hunt — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Homeland Security Department made changes this week to rules governing how employers must respond when a worker provides employment information that does not match government records, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today.

The changes are designed to address the concerns of Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco, who last year blocked the department's no-match program -- an initiative that would open companies employing illegal immigrants to criminal prosecution if they receive a no-match letter from the government. Chertoff said the department will take the new rules back to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and ask Breyer to lift the injunction.

"This week, I signed the final rule that revises the original rule and addresses the issues that the court raised," Chertoff said. "We will ask the court to lift the injunction and let us proceed with implementation of the rule."

Chertoff said the most significant change was a more comprehensive analysis of the regulation's economic consequences, which Breyer said was required under a 1980 law designed to protect small businesses.

Chertoff did not explain how the department would address the judge's assertion that the program could result in the firing of lawfully employed workers by businesses fearing criminal prosecution. At a briefing with reporters, Chertoff also highlighted recent border security efforts and called on Congress to take up comprehensive immigration reform.

"Ultimately to solve the problem of illegal migration ...we're going to have to go back to Congress and see if we can get comprehensive reform in the future," he said. "This is not a situation that's sustainable over a long period of time."

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