If the nomination of pro-union radical Craig Becker for the National Labor Relations Board couldn't survive congressional scrutiny, Obama administration officials are taking heart that another nominee for a major labor policymaking post has passed muster. On Thursday, February 4, the Senate voted 60 to 37 to approve M. Patricia Smith, labor commissioner for the State of New York, as the new solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the department's chief law interpreter-enforcer and third-ranking official. The vote occurred after several months of delay and three days after a 60-32 cloture vote. Certain Republican lawmakers had expressed concerns that she had made deceptive statements back during her May 7 confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Republican objections to 
When the Obama administration this past spring forced the bankrupt General Motors and Chrysler Corp. into virtual public receivership, officials justified the action as crucial to the survival of the auto industry and indeed the entire economy. Yet this unprecedented action has had several downsides, one of the less heralded of which has been the sudden vulnerability of current and retired employees who don't belong to a union. Case in point: the roughly 15,000 nonunion retirees of auto parts manufacturer and former GM subsidiary 
The Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the prime venues for President Obama's attempt to unite governance and community activism. But he's having an unexpectedly tough time conveying his enthusiasm to the Senate. Nearly four months ago, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the confirmation of M. Patricia "Trisha" Smith to become the DOL's next solicitor, which is the third highest post in the department behind secretary and deputy secretary. Yet the appointment remains up in the air. That's because Republicans on the committee are concerned Smith may replicate a program she recently initiated as current labor commissioner for the State of New York. 
