Daschle Predicts Denial of Nominee for Labor Job

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) predicted Sunday that Eugene Scalia, President Bush’s nominee as Labor Department solicitor, will be denied confirmation, and the White House stepped up a behind-the-scenes campaign on Scalia’s behalf.

The solicitor is responsible for defending department regulations in court. Scalia, 38, a conservative Washington labor lawyer, was a vocal opponent of President Clinton’s efforts to tighten standards designed to reduce repetitive motion injuries, and Democrats contend that his confirmation could undermine worker protections.

“It is unlikely he will be confirmed. I don’t think he has the 60 votes that would be required for as controversial a nominee as he is,” Daschle said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Scalia is one of nine children of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was nominated by President Reagan and was a driving force behind the court ruling that stopped the counting of disputed presidential votes in Florida last year.