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JANUARY 10, 2001

Accompanied by immigrants and others who praised her for her compassion, Linda Chavez on Tuesday became the first casualty of the George W. Bush administration, withdrawing from consideration as Secretary of Labor.

"I have decided that I am becoming a distraction, and therefore I have asked President Bush to withdraw my name for Secretary of Labor," said Chavez.

Chavez quickly became the target of attacks when it was reported she housed and gave cash to a Guatemalan woman in the early 1990s. And although Chavez and Marta Mercado have given conflicting accounts on the issue, Chavez yesterday acknowledged she was probably aware of Mercado's illegal alien status all along.

"I think I always knew that she was here illegally," said Chavez. "I don't check green cards when I see a woman who is battered and who has no place to live and nothing to eat and no way to get on her feet."

Chavez' withdrawal immediately pleased her opponents, like the AFL-CIO, who have been critical of her views on affirmative action and labor rights. But Bush himself appeared guarded about Chavez, issuing only a short statement yesterday.

"Linda is a good person, with a great deal of compassion for people from all walks of life," said Bush. "I am disappointed that Linda Chavez will not become our nation's next Secretary of Labor."

And while Chavez insisted the decision was her own, other Republicans acknowledged her time had come. "Under the circumstances, I think she came to the right conclusion," said Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.Mex). "The storm clouds were gathering."

With Chavez out of the picture, opponents of two other Bush nominees -- John Ashcroft for Attorney General and Gale Norton for Secretary of Interior -- are allying themselves in preparation of Senate confirmation hearings next week. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney yesterday, however, acknowledged the campaign against their defeat "will be a tougher battle."

In a unique move, though, Ronnie White, an African-American judge whose nomination for a federal judgeship was opposed by Ashcroft will testify against him next week before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings will begin on January 16 and are expected to last several days.

Meanwhile the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold one for Norton on January 18. She is scheduled to be the only witness.

"Gale Norton is an anti-environmental extremist whose record as a lobbyist for polluters, an attorney for loggers and miners, and a protege of James Watt makes her unfit to be Secretary of the Interior," said the Sierra Club on Tuesday.

As head of the Department of Interior, Norton would oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife, and the National Park Service, among others. She would also be the boss of the new head of the BIA, a position vacated by Kevin Gover on January 3.

Gover's assistant deputy secretary, Michael Anderson, has been named head of the Bureau until January 20, when he will also step down. The replacement will oversee the BIA at a time when criticisms of gaming and federal recognition have increased and reforms in trust management continue amid a billion-dollar lawsuit against the Interior and the Treasury Department.

Get Chavez' Withdrawal Statement:
Text: Chavez Abandons Bid for Labor Secretary (eMediaMillWorks 1/9)

Relevant Links:
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary - www.senate.gov/~judiciary
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee - www.senate.gov/~energy

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Bush names Norton to Interior (Politics 12/29)
Who is Gale Norton? (Politics 12/29)