Senate Confirms New Secretary of Labor

The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Thomas E. Perez as labor secretary, not long after senators reached a confirmation deal to avert changing the chamber’s rules. The Senate confirmed Perez on a party-line vote, 54-46.

Perez is the graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School. After working you years in government, President Barack Obama in 2009 nominated Perez to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.   On March 18, 2013, Perez was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States Secretary of Labor, replacing outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis.

As head of the Civil Rights Division, Perez aggressively defended civil rights, including of Latinos and immigrants.

KJ