Labor nominee clears divided Senate panel

WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Senate panel on Wednesday approved New York state’s labor commissioner for the No. 3 post at the Labor Department, despite GOP claims that she gave lawmakers inaccurate testimony.

The 13-10 vote in favor of Patricia Smith as solicitor of the agency split along party lines. Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, said he would place a hold on Smith to delay a confirmation vote on the Senate floor.

Enzi claims Smith misled lawmakers about her role in overseeing a small New York pilot program that recruits unions and consumer groups to help uncover wage and hour violations in the work place.

“It is her lack of candor with the committee that is our concern today,” Enzi said.

Smith concedes that she “misspoke” in explaining how the program was created and about plans to expand it. But Democrats characterized the misstatements as minor and said there is no indication Smith was trying to hide anything about a $6,000 program in an $11 billion state agency.

“There is simply no wrongdoing here and certainly nothing that would disqualify her from public office,” said committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

At her May 7 hearing, Smith said she had not spoken to anyone about expanding the program. After Enzi obtained documents showing there were plans to expand the program to upstate and possibly statewide, Smith conceded that she misspoke. She clarified her remarks to say that she had not authorized any expansion.

Smith also told the committee that the idea for the program came from inside the New York Department of Labor. She later said she was unaware that one of her deputies had consulted with union officials about creating a program of “wage and hour enforcers.”

Harkin argued that GOP critics were more concerned about the politics of the program itself, which encourages workers in low-wage jobs to report employers that violate pay and overtime rules. Republicans have raised questions about whether it is appropriate to make unions members part of the program, allowing them to go into nonunion businesses and interview workers and supervisors.

Enzi insisted he is troubled only by Smith’s inconsistent statements. His questions have left her nomination in limbo for more than five months. He has repeatedly urged President Barack Obama to withdraw her nomination, but the White House has indicated it will press on, and Democrats have rallied to her defense.