Experience-Challenged

President-elect George W. Bush wrapped up his Cabinet appointments Tuesday in character with most of his previous nominations--a sharp eye to racial, ethnic and political balance, but in some cases too little expertise.

The most important of the nominations, of former Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) as Energy secretary, is perhaps the most puzzling. Abraham, defeated in November after one lackluster term in the Senate, has long political experience but none of it focused on energy issues. His Senate votes--against retaining fuel efficiency standards for auto fleets, against federal speed limits and against federal funding for alternate energy sources--are a scant but troubling record. His Senate Web site carries not a single mention of energy issues, though he co-sponsored legislation to abolish the very department he will head. Abraham clearly has a sharp learning curve ahead at a time when energy costs and power deregulation are critical national issues.

Abraham said Tuesday that the incoming administration has “incredible expertise” on energy, presumably including that of former oilmen Bush and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney. Abraham clearly will bow to them. But if he is as opposed to regulatory conservation rules and government funding for renewable energy as his Senate votes indicate, California’s hope for federal help in solving the state’s power crisis may dim considerably.

By naming former Silicon Valley Rep. Norman Y. Mineta for the Transportation Department, Bush gets a full-fledged Democrat and his second Californian, after Ann M. Veneman at Agriculture. Mineta is unquestionably the most experienced of the three nominees, among other things having been chairman of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. After leaving Congress, Mineta became an executive for Lockheed Martin and was on a special aviation review commission for President Clinton’s Transportation secretary, Rodney Slater. Mineta, named Commerce secretary six months ago by Clinton, may be shifting chairs but he stays in the same room at a very tough time for aviation and auto safety.

Never an ideologue, Mineta said Tuesday, “There are no Democratic or Republican highways . . . no such thing as Republican or Democratic aviation and highway safety.” Mineta is unlikely to be a forceful voice in the Bush Cabinet, but he should be an informed one.

Bush’s nominee to head the Labor Department, Linda Chavez, would, like several other Bush nominees, be a familiar face from a previous administration, having headed the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under President Ronald Reagan. Her direct political or professional experience on labor issues is minimal, but her long record as an opponent of affirmative action, including contract set-asides, will no doubt affect enforcement of a range of labor rules. Chavez, currently a public speaker and newspaper columnist, has stated that unequal pay for women has little to do with discrimination and everything to do with women’s choices. She has also opposed the expansion of employer responsibility for curbing workplace sexual harassment.

Chavez, like Abraham, has a strong political background but little specific expertise. Since the Labor Department is a perennial stepchild for Republican administrations, that might not be much of a handicap.