Chao Shares Much With Chavez, Except Paper Trail

Elaine Chao has much in common with Linda Chavez, the woman she replaced Thursday as President-elect George W. Bush’s nominee to lead the Department of Labor.

Both are stars from earlier Republican administrations who oppose hiring quotas, embrace a conservative agenda and tell a compelling story of rising from modest means to reach fame and power in Washington.

But there are important differences. Unlike Chavez, who withdrew Tuesday amid questions of whether she had employed an illegal immigrant, Chao, 47, has not produced a written record of provocative attacks on affirmative action, the minimum wage and other liberal causes. Chavez’s writings had prompted sharp criticism from labor unions, guaranteeing that her nomination would receive tough scrutiny.

And there is another factor that may work in Chao’s favor: She is married to a member of the U.S. Senate, which must confirm all Cabinet members. Her husband is conservative Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The appointment of Chao, a Taiwanese immigrant who once led the United Way of America and the Peace Corps, likely permits Bush to please conservatives without provoking a fight from liberals and Democrats, political analysts said Thursday.

“It’s unlikely that there is any significant ideological difference between her and Linda Chavez,” said Marshall Wittmann of the conservative Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank. “But the fact that she doesn’t have a paper trail and is married to a senator probably inoculates her from all that Chavez suffered.”

Business groups welcomed the nomination, even though Chao’s positions on their top goals at the Labor Department are not clear.

Business groups want to overturn new Clinton administration rules on ergonomics, which aim to ease physical problems that some workers endure on the job. They also oppose a Clinton plan to allow states to tap unemployment insurance funds for other purposes. Also unclear is Chao’s view of whether workers should be able to reclaim any union dues that fund political campaigns or activities other than collective bargaining. Republicans support that idea, though unions bitterly oppose it.

“We know she shares the president-elect’s conservative views on the limited role of government,” said Randel Johnson, vice president for labor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We’re pleased with this choice. We know that she will listen carefully to the views of the business community.”

Significantly, the AFL-CIO on Thursday issued a neutral statement that said the union looked forward to learning more about Chao. That stance was in stark contrast to the Chavez nomination, which AFL-CIO President John Sweeney had immediately attacked as “an insult to American working men and women.”

Chao already has a working relationship with Sweeney, who served on the United Way board when Chao headed the charity. In fact, one Republican familiar with events said that the conservative Heritage Foundation--where Chao is a distinguished fellow--lobbied Bush to nominate her, not because of her political views but because Sweeney would be comfortable with her.

Also in contrast to the Chavez nomination, Chao phoned Sweeney on Thursday before her nomination became public and asked to meet with him. The union received no similar heads-up on Chavez. In fact, Bush had talked by phone with Sweeney just before the Chavez nomination, but the president-elect did not mention that such a provocative name was about to be announced, a union spokeswoman said.

Chao emigrated from Taiwan at age 8, knowing no English. Her parents had left the hardships of mainland China for Taiwan, then moved the family to New York City in search of a better life.

“My father held three jobs to make ends meet,” Chao recalled Thursday. “My mother worried constantly over our meager budget.”

Chao majored in economics at Mount Holyoke College and earned a master’s in business administration from Harvard University. She worked briefly as a White House fellow under President Reagan, then moved to San Francisco for a position with BankAmerica. In California, she campaigned for former Gov. Pete Wilson and for Los Angeles Republicans. She also served as national chairman for Asian Americans for Bush/Quayle in the 1988 presidential election.

For many years, Chao was thought to be considering her own bid for political office in California, and she retained ties to the state after leaving to become chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. President Bush later named her deputy Transportation secretary.

The top transportation job opened in 1991 when then-Secretary Samuel K. Skinner left to become White House chief of staff. But Chao, then 38, was not named his successor and instead was tapped by Bush to lead the Peace Corps.

Though the job allowed her to run her own agency, Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) said Thursday that he was “very unhappy with that. I felt she should have become the first Asian American Cabinet secretary.”

If confirmed, she would become the first Asian American female Cabinet secretary.

In 1992, Chao was named to the United Way of America job as the agency contended with a crisis after its former chief was caught misusing funds. Chao earned praise for restoring the agency’s image, but she drew criticism on her departure when word leaked that several unidentified board members agreed to give her a gift of $292,500 from their own pockets. The criticism eventually prompted Chao to decline the money.

Chao has angered Asian American leaders with some of her political stances. She opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Congress’ response to several Supreme Court decisions that had made it harder for workers to bring and win job discrimination lawsuits.