With support from a wide range of groups, including those representing women and minorities, and key Republican leaders, Alexis Herman appears headed for easy Senate approval as secretary of labor.
Many Washington insiders predicted that Herman would face very difficult Senate confirmation hearings or might even be forced to withdraw her name. However, the labor secretary-designate was well received by Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee members at her March 18 hearing.
Herman had been accused of having used her White House position as director of public liaison to assist in Clinton presidential fund-raising activities. Questions had also been raised about her role as a mid-level Labor Department official during the Carter Administration. Some suggested that she had steered contracts to her political and business allies. These issues were barely touched upon during her hearing.
Instead, the senators mostly questioned Herman about her views on labor issues and the task of moving the poor off welfare and into decent-paying jobs, workplace safety and the calculation of minimum wages for workers on federal construction projects, and a score of other big and small matters unrelated to politics.
Herman followed standard form for Cabinet nominees. She said as little as possible, trying to agree even with her ideological opposites, and made no promises, even to her supporters. When they quit, they gave every indication that most of them would vote to send Herman's nomination to the Senate floor when they return from their Easter recess in early April.
The confirmation hearings for Herman, who would be the highest ranking African American woman in the Clinton Administration, had been postponed for over three months.
There were several indications that Herman's nomination appeared assured. First, Sen. John W. Warner (Va.), who was one of the few Republicans to question her about her possible fund-raising role, told the nominee that "from what I've seen today, you're up to handling" the Cabinet job.
Second, Sen. Richard C. Shelby and Rep. Sonny Callahan, two powerful conservative Republicans from her home state, introduced Herman, who is a native of Mobile, Ala. Shelby praised Herman for her past work in various capacities and indicated his complete support for her nomination. Callahan then presented the committee with a letter of support from the entire Alabama congressional delegation.
Herman also received strong support from many black leaders. Among those
in the hearing room were Reps. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Jesse Jackson
Jr. (D-Ill.), Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater, and Washington,
D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.