WASHINGTON — Temporarily bypassing Congressional oversight, President Bush said Thursday he has named a lawyer who represented Wal-Mart to be the Labor Department’s chief enforcer for a slate of laws, including those involving minimum wage and overtime.
Bush nominated Paul DeCamp in January, raising the concerns of labor advocates who said he was too close to big business. His work for Wal-Mart as a private attorney helped spur opposition among Democrats, prompting the recess appointment, which lasts until the end of the Congressional session this year.
DeCamp assisted Wal-Mart in gaining permission to appeal the class-action status of a lawsuit involving 1.6 million current or former women employees that alleges sex discrimination in pay and promotions. The case is pending.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.), during a confirmation hearing last month, said he opposed DeCamp’s nomination to be administrator of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour division.
Kennedy said in a statement Thursday he was “deeply concerned by President Bush’s decision to bypass the Senate” with the recess appointment. “It’s an insult to America’s workers for the president to give this job to someone with a clear record of hostility to protecting overtime and wages.”
Sen. Michael Enzi (R., Wyo.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, issued a statement Thursday, saying he was “disappointed” with the opposition “holding up” DeCamp’s nomination and supported Bush’s recess appointment.
“The president’s critics have not made a credible case to block this nomination, particularly in light of Mr. DeCamp’s strong qualifications,” Enzi said. “Mr. DeCamp has had a distinguished career in private legal practice where he specialized in labor and employment issues with a special emphasis on wage and hour matters.”
DeCamp, who has been working as a senior policy adviser at the Labor Department, takes over from Alfred B. Robinson Jr., who has been acting administrator since June 2004, when the former administrator, Tammy Dee McCutchen, resigned.