President Obama is set to name Thomas Perez, a civil rights lawyer in the Justice Department, as his Secretary of Labor.
No, some conservatives are not happy about it. Some are already branding him a radical for doing things like bringing lawsuits against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and accusing his office of abusing Latinos.
A recent investigation by the Justice Department is also expected to play a role during his confirmation process with Congress. Before Perez took over his current position, the voting rights section of the Justice Dept was accused of politically motivated and dysfunctional decision making (NO WAY!??). A recent investigation outed some examples and noted that Perez took steps to correct the problems.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says the investigation exaggerates what Perez has done to mitigate political problems. Holding up a confirmation for political reasons won't help that divide much.
The big problem came during his testimony for the investigation.
The inspector general, however, raised questions regarding Mr. Perez’s testimony about a case that preceded his time. Mr. Perez told the Civil Rights Commission in 2010 that no senior department officials were involved in a 2009 decision not to pursue further a case of voter intimidation involving the New Black Panthers. But the report noted that in fact senior officials did participate in discussions about the case, although the final decision was made by career lawyers as Mr. Perez had testified.
Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said the report showed that Mr. Perez was “woefully unprepared to answer questions” about a matter that he expected to be asked about. “This is troubling as it suggests a failure to also prepare for hearings before Congress, including the Senate Judiciary Committee, when questioned on this same topic,” he said in a statement.
This shocking and egregious mistake shows that this man in human, and therefore over-qualified for the office. Plus, he's Latino, and, if confirmed, takes away the claim that President Obama only likes to be surrounded by white people.