Upon learning of President Obama’s decision to nominate Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to be the next Labor Secretary, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) released the following statement:

“The President’s nomination of Mr. Perez shows a complete lack of regard for the American taxpayer. An official such as Mr. Perez, who is in the middle of a congressional investigation concentrated on a quid pro quo deal that potentially cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, should not be promoted to lead our nation’s Labor Department.”

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee have investigated the St. Paul situation, in which Mr. Perez urged the City of St. Paul to drop a case it had before the Supreme Court in return for a Justice Department decision not to intervene in an unrelated False Claims Act case. That case had the potential to return over $180 million in damages to the U.S. treasury. 

The letter to Attorney General Holder regarding the matter can be found here.

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