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  Labor Dept. Accused of Straying From Enforcement
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ContributorArmyDem 
Last EditedArmyDem  Nov 30, 2008 11:00pm
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MediaNewspaper - Washington Post
News DateTuesday, December 2, 2008 04:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionBy Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 1, 2008; Page A02

The next labor secretary will be taking charge of an agency widely criticized for walking away from its regulatory function across a range of issues, including wage and hour law and workplace safety.

"My view is that this is a deeply troubled department," said Scott Lilly, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, who has written several reports critical of the agency's operation under the Bush administration. "As bad as the personnel situation may be in many departments, I think it tends to be worse in the Labor Department than in most places. "I think you've got people embedded there who are philosophically hostile to the mission of the agency."

There are few federal agencies where the ideological differences separating many Democrats and Republicans play out more plainly. Labor is one of the government's largest regulatory enforcement agencies, overseeing issues from overtime payments and pension regulations to workplace safety and training programs. The agency has a total budget of $50.4 billion and 16,800 employees.
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