McLaughlin Confirmation to Head Labor Returns Woman to Cabinet

The Senate on Friday approved President Reagan’s choice of Ann Dore McLaughlin to be secretary of labor. The vote was 94 to 0.

McLaughlin, 46, a former undersecretary of the Interior, succeeds William E. Brock III, who resigned in October to manage the presidential campaign of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.).

Her confirmation returns a woman to Reagan’s Cabinet. It has been without one since Elizabeth Hanford Dole resigned as transportation secretary in September to help with her husband’s campaign.

‘Strong Record’

“Mrs. McLaughlin brings to this position a strong record of public service,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, told his colleagues before the vote.

Kennedy’s 16-member panel had unanimously approved the nomination on Wednesday following an unusually brief 54-minute confirmation hearing at which no opposition surfaced.

Don Smythe, a Labor Department spokesman, said McLaughlin will be sworn into office “within a few days.”

‘Appreciate Fair Hearing’

“I certainly appreciate the Senate’s friendly and fair hearing and quick action on my nomination,” McLaughlin said after the vote. “I’m looking forward to continuing this spirit of cooperation as we address the challenges facing American workers today and into the 21st Century.”

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the ranking Republican on the labor committee, predicted that McLaughlin’s tenure in the final 13 months of Reagan’s presidency will be politically difficult, largely because of the broad agenda of union-endorsed legislation that Kennedy is pushing through the panel.