The Washington Post continues its look at how federal agencies may change under the Barack Obama administration with an analysis on the Dept. of Labor. The Post’s Michael A. Fletcher reports that the Labor Dept. is typically strengthened during a Democratic presidency and weakened during a Republican one– meaning money for workplace inspectors and overall funding may increase under Obama.

But this bland analysis obscures that independent audits, not Democrats, have spotlighted the Bush administration’s failings. A Government Accountability Office report found that the Dept. has not adequately investigated low-wage worker complaints. An Inspectors General report discovered that even as deaths in coal mines increased, mine safety regulators were shirking their routine inspection duties.

This will hopefully change under Obama. But it’s disconcerting that the new Dept. secretary was not revealed during the announcement of the administration’s economic team. That might indicate that while Obama will improve the Dept. he too views it as a second-tier agency.-MB

Comment RSS - You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.