Perez: No talks about attorney general job

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said Tuesday he had not had discussions with the White House about replacing Attorney General Eric Holder, despite speculation he was a leading candidate for the job.

{mosads}”My conversations with the White House have been all about the long-term unemployed, all about the Department of Labor, all about the progress we are making about putting people back to work,” Perez said during a conference call on unemployment issues, according to the Los Angeles Times. “That is my singular focus.”

Perez served as the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department before he was nominated to head the Labor Department. He’s also worked closely with Holder, even after leaving the DOJ, consulting on the administration’s response to unrest in Ferguson, Mo., after the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

But his selection as attorney general could be a controversial one. Perez came under fire during his last confirmation hearing for accusations he had brokered a deal with the mayor of St. Paul, Minn., to drop a pair of lawsuits alleging the city fraudulently acquired stimulus funds if officials ended their appeal of a fair housing case.

Perez also aggressively challenged voter I.D. laws in southern states, which is likely to draw criticism from GOP lawmakers. And Perez oversaw an investigation into whether the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Joe Arpaio — a leading Tea Party figure — had discriminated against Hispanics.

On Tuesday, the White House said President Obama would not nominate Holder’s replacement until after the midterm elections following a request from Senate Democrats. The White House also believes that waiting until after voters head to the polls will keep the attorney general nomination from becoming mired in election-year politics, according to an official.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it would take “a little bit of time” to determine “who the right person is for that important task.”

But Republicans said the move was politically calculated.

“This timing shows, once again, that the president and Democrat Senate leaders are willing to play politics with important policy decisions,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “First it was immigration, and now Senate Democrats have asked the president to delay his announcement for attorney general so they can avoid making clear to the voters of their states where they stand on what could be a controversial choice for attorney general.”