Senate Chilly to Ashcroft, Warm to Other Nominees

On a day when several of President Bush’s Cabinet choices were greeted by a welcoming Senate, his most politically charged selection--attorney general nominee John Ashcroft--generated increased tensions and stepped-up opposition from Democrats.

The Senate unanimously approved Tommy G. Thompson to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Norman Y. Mineta as Transportation secretary. Even the nomination of Gale A. Norton as Interior secretary--opposed by many environmental groups--was sent to the full Senate by a lopsided 18-2 committee vote, while Labor Secretary-designate Elaine Chao received a warm reception from another Senate panel.

So far, 12 high-ranking Bush administration nominees have been confirmed, including 11 of the 14 department heads in the Cabinet.

But for Ashcroft, there was only more bad news.

While Republicans said they remain confident that the former senator from Missouri ultimately will be confirmed as the nation’s top law enforcement official, Democrats declared in even more stark terms that they will not give their former colleague a free ride.

Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior senator, became the latest Democrat to come out against Ashcroft, calling him an “ultra right-wing” partisan who cannot be trusted to enforce the nation’s laws on behalf of all its citizens.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee forced the panel to put off for a week its vote on Ashcroft’s nomination. They said that they need more time to collect and review information on his controversial 25-year record in public service, including his responses to a barrage of nearly 350 written questions from Democrats.

Republicans said that it was the first time in at least a quarter-century that an attorney general nominee had been subjected to such procedural maneuvering.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the tactics come “at a time when we need to make certain that our nation has its executive officers in place so that we can have an attorney general who can wage a war on crime and enforce the laws.”

But Democrats noted that former Atty. Gen. Janet Reno’s top aide, Eric H. Holder Jr., is acting as attorney general. “It’s not as though justice goes undone,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

President Bush also downplayed the conflict. “I think they’re making sure that, when they confirm him, all questions have been answered,” he said of the Democrats’ action.

Feinstein joins five other Democratic senators--including Californian Barbara Boxer--who have declared their formal opposition to Ashcroft, but she is the first from the Judiciary Committee. Her opposition is seen as potentially significant because she is a political moderate whose vote against Ashcroft was by no means assured.

Feinstein said that the extreme nature of Ashcroft’s record on abortion rights, gun control, civil rights and other issues makes it difficult to believe “that he can in fact fairly and aggressively enforce laws he deeply believes are wrong.”

“How can our citizens feel that this man will stand up for them when their civil rights are violated?” she asked, adding that her office has received more than 60,000 letters, e-mail messages and calls from Californians who are overwhelmingly opposed to Ashcroft.

Feinstein said that she is particularly troubled by Ashcroft’s 1999 derailment of federal judicial nominee Ronnie White and by a 1997 speech that Ashcroft gave before the conservative Heritage Foundation condemning judicial activism by liberal judges.

In the speech, Ashcroft suggested that “people’s lives and fortunes [have] been relinquished to renegade judges--a robed, contemptuous, intellectual elite.” And he pledged to “fight the judicial despotism that stands like a behemoth over this great land.”

Ashcroft could face as many as 35 or 40 no votes from Democrats when his nomination comes to the Senate floor, Democrats have said.

“The vote will say to him, I hope, ‘You better keep your word,’ ” Feinstein said.

In other developments Wednesday, Thompson was approved by the full Senate as secretary of Health and Human Services after a brief debate in which lawmakers praised his record as a four-term governor of Wisconsin and as a leader in welfare reform.

There was little controversy associated with Thompson because he has a record that cannot be easily categorized. While he pushed a stringent welfare reform plan in Wisconsin, for instance, he also put substantial amounts of money into child care and health care for low-income families. And he is personally supportive of stem cell research and family planning at the same time that he is adamantly opposed to abortion.

Among Thompson’s first tasks will be reauthorization of national welfare reform legislation and crafting of a Medicare reform plan.

“The qualities that have made Gov. Thompson so successful in Wisconsin are also what makes him an ideal choice to lead this important department,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “He will bring a wealth of knowledge . . . and an innovative style to the national debate on welfare reform.”

Chao appeared to enjoy broad support during her confirmation hearing to become secretary of Labor, even though some Democrats on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee did not seem to like her answers to some questions.

The Senate vote on Chao, set for Tuesday, “is going to be very positive and overwhelmingly favorable,” predicted Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the committee’s senior Democrat.

Kennedy’s remark came even though Chao refused to commit herself to enforcing new rules on ergonomics, which aim to reduce injuries caused by repetitive work. The rules took effect in the final days of the Clinton administration and are strongly supported by labor unions.

Asked if she would try to rescind the rules, Chao said: “I can’t answer that question right now because I’m not there yet. And I think this is a very, very complicated issue.”

Chao also said that she supports Bush’s proposal to raise the federal minimum wage, now set at $5.15 an hour, but with the provision that states could opt out. Democrats will push for a higher minimum wage this year but strongly oppose any option provision.

Chao said that one of her priorities would be to improve worker training so that Americans are qualified for the “thousands upon thousands of well-paying” high-tech jobs that U.S. companies now fill with skilled workers from overseas.

Chao, a Heritage Foundation scholar, is a former head of United Way and the Peace Corps and a former deputy secretary of Transportation.

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Times staff writers Alissa J. Rubin and Aaron Zitner contributed to this story.