By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Two of President Obama's second-term personnel picks that have attracted conservative and business opposition moved a step closer to confirmation Thursday.
Questions have surfaced over a Justice Department plan to hire 44 more attorneys for its Civil Rights Division, which has been accused of bias by members of Congress and been described in a government report as having deep ideological differences that have fueled disputes harmful to its operation.
President Obama's nominee to run the Labor Department on Thursday acknowledged during his Senate confirmation hearing the administration has understated the nation's unemployment rate.
Republicans have ramped up attacks on President Obama's pick to head the Labor Department, releasing a scathing report that says Thomas E. Perez abused his power and negotiated a dubious deal while serving as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Republicans looking at the background of Labor secretary nominee Thomas Perez say he "manipulated" federal law while in service as assistant attorney general and is guilty of cutting a "quid pro quo" deal.
Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez's nomination by President Obama as labor secretary has been met with criticism from Republicans and widespread concern among current and former Justice Department attorneys who question whether the Civil Rights Division chief is qualified for the post.
High-ranking Democratic Party officials say Republicans will undo any good will they build up with Hispanics on immigration if they try to block Thomas E. Perez, an Hispanic lawyer whom President Obama nominated this week to run the Labor Department.
President Obama on Monday nominated civil rights attorney Thomas E. Perez to be the next labor secretary, immediately drawing Republican opposition and another contentious confirmation fight on Capitol Hill.
President Obama Monday nominated Thomas E. Perez to be the next Labor Department secretary — setting up yet another contentious confirmation battle in the Senate.
The Justice Department on Thursday targeted the Cleveland Police Department in a civil rights investigation to determine whether police in that city used excessive force, including "unreasonable deadly force," in violation of the Constitution and federal law.
A senior Republican in Congress said Wednesday that he wants to know why Justice Department employees whose "hostile, racist and inappropriate behavior" was documented in a new report — including one who admitted lying to the department's office of inspector general — are still employed.
An assistant attorney general President Obama is considering for labor secretary oversaw a Justice Department section hampered by racially-charged ideological divisions, an inspector general report says.
President Obama is expected this week to pick former Maryland Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez as his new Labor Department head, but it's unclear, after Sen. Rand Paul's dramatic 13-hour filibuster of a vote on a new CIA director last week, if Republicans have the stomach for another nomination fight.
A former Illinois spa and massage parlor owner who used violence and threats of violence to force three women from the Ukraine and one from Belarus to work for him without pay and, at times, little to no subsistence over a two-year period was sentenced Monday to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department has targeted Mississippi in a federal lawsuit claiming that the due process rights of children are "repeatedly and routinely" violated when arrested for minor offenses, accusing officials of operating a "school to prison pipeline" that singles out blacks and juveniles with disabilities.
"That seems to me to be an extraordinary amount of wheeling and dealing," Mr. Alexander said, accusing Mr. Perez of "manipulating the legal process."
He said the inspector general's report found that the Voting Rights Section under Mr. Perez's leadership has become so politicized and so unprofessional that at times it became simply dysfunctional.
Justice Department hiring request fuels bias complaints; 44 civil rights lawyers sought →
