One Cabinet pick approved, two narrowly advance

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s nominee to lead the Energy Department won unanimous confirmation by the Senate on Thursday while two other Cabinet choices narrowly advanced out of committee, amid complaints from Democrats over Republican delaying tactics.

Ernest J. Moniz, an MIT physics professor who becomes the new Energy secretary, is the fifth Cabinet appointment confirmed since Obama won a second term, and the first without any Republican dissent.

By comparison, all but one of President George W. Bush’s 11 initial second-term appointments were confirmed by the end of April, even though his party held no more Senate seats than Democrats control now.

Republicans had delayed consideration of Thomas E. Perez, Obama’s choice to lead the Labor Department, and Environmental Protection Agency nominee Gina McCarthy before Thursday’s party-line committee votes to recommend them to the full Senate.

Perez’s nomination, in particular, has emerged as a focal point for Republicans.

At issue is an agreement Perez, the deputy attorney general for civil rights, arranged last year. The city of St. Paul, Minn., dropped an appeal to the Supreme Court that could have jeopardized a technique the Justice Department uses to show racial discrimination in housing, while the Justice Department declined to intervene in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Thursday that the deal amounted to improper quid pro quo and that Perez had engaged in an “extraordinary amount of wheeling and dealing” beyond his responsibilities.

Perez defended his actions at his confirmation hearing in April, saying they were “in the interests of justice.”

House subcommittees have been investigating the case. Democrats have called the inquiries a “fishing expedition.” But Republicans sense an opportunity to potentially block Perez by drawing a connection to the inappropriate targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Perez, who would be the only Latino in Obama’s Cabinet if confirmed, had an “amazing personal story,” but added, “He’d be a bad nominee under any environment, but I think under this one he’d be disastrous.” He said the IRS scandal had exposed “an administration that has shown a willingness to use the power of government to intimidate their political opponents,” while Perez “has shown a willingness to intimidate his political opponents or people he doesn’t agree with.”

McCarthy’s nomination may face a clearer path. Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee had boycotted an earlier meeting to vote on her nomination, but signaled Thursday that a filibuster could be averted if the administration released some additional documents.

The same committee that voted on Perez’s nomination Thursday also considered appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. Republicans on the panel said they would not support the five choices.

Democrats, angered by Republican efforts to block Obama’s nominations, are increasingly raising the threat of changing the filibuster rules to make such delays more difficult.

“It’s frustration turning into fury, and unless something dramatic happens in terms of more responsible action on nominations, we’ll be returning to this topic,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who has been leading an effort for more extensive filibuster reform.

Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said that the timing of nomination actions was almost entirely controlled by Democrats. He noted that Moniz and Obama’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services readily won approval this week.

“We have confirmed every Cabinet nominee,” Stewart said. “And we’ve confirmed more judges in the first part of his second term than were confirmed in the same period under Bush and Clinton.”

Some Republicans are signaling that the party should tread carefully. Sen. John McCain noted, “Democrats are starting to get restless again because of some of the blockages.”

The Arizona senator who lost his 2008 race for the White House to Obama said: “I’m concerned about it because the president deserves the benefit of the doubt. Elections have consequences — tragically.”

michael.memoli@latimes.com