By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President-elect Bush is searching anew for a labor secretary, saying he was saddened by the withdrawal of Linda Chavez in a controversy over her relationship with an undocumented immigrant.
Moving swiftly to find another nominee, Bush was meeting late yesterday with Eloise Anderson, former social services director in Wisconsin and California, and one of several names mentioned for the Labor job.
Also mentioned were Elaine L. Chao, former deputy transportation secretary and the wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Stephen Goldsmith, former Indianapolis mayor and a Bush adviser; former Rep. Jim Talent, just defeated for Missouri governor; Rich Bond, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash.
Anderson, who had met with Bush previously, is best known for her work on welfare reform. She served under Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, Bush's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Anderson, who is black, opposes affirmative action, said Brian Kennedy, vice president of Claremont Institute in Sacramento, Calif., where Anderson is a scholar.
Of Chavez, Bush said Tuesday night: "I absolutely believe she would have been a great Cabinet secretary. ... I understand her reluctance to move forward."
The president-elect met at the Pentagon yesterday with outgoing Defense Secretary William Cohen and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Afterward, he said the briefing went "very good" but declined to answer reporters' questions.
He also was to meet with budget advisers in the afternoon. Though hoping to divert attention from the Chavez flap, Bush had no plans to make high-level appointments Wednesday, and aides said an announcement of Chavez's replacement was not imminent.
Top contenders include Robert Zoellick, a former assistant secretary of state for economic affairs during the administration of Bush's father, and Richard W. Fisher, a Democrat who is currently the deputy U.S. trade representative.
Chavez Tuesday withdrew her name from consideration for the labor post, saying the controversy over an illegal immigrant who once lived with her had become a distraction.
Chavez said she should have been more candid about the circumstances surrounding Marta Mercado, a Guatemalan woman who lived with her for about two years in the early 1990s.
Yesterday, she blamed her troubles partly on the five-week presidential election contest in Florida, which she said forced the Bush team to make nominations first and investigate later.
A Bush spokesman acknowledged that the tightened schedule represented a challenge for the transition team.
"If we had our choice and could have five more weeks put on the clock, I think that would be the best thing for the nation, of course," spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "The recount shortened the time for us to prepare in all matters," he said, but added that Americans "will say this is one remarkably prepared administration given the circumstances."
Chavez had drawn fierce criticism from some labor groups, but Fleischer said Bush had no plans to change his criteria as he renews his search for a labor secretary. "We're looking for someone who will have the same approach to labor as President-elect Bush," he said.
Bush aides said the woman did odd jobs for Chavez around the house and that Chavez gave her spending money. The aides said this was not an employer-employee relationship.
Chavez said it was "the politics of personal destruction" that brought down her nomination and she called herself a victim of "search-and-destroy" politics.
Bush, however, did not respond during his brief news conference at Andrews Air Force Base when asked if he agreed with that characterization.
"She made the decision herself," Bush said.
Dan Bartlett, a Bush spokesman, said Bush was told of Chavez's decision to withdraw early Tuesday afternoon by Vice President-elect Dick Cheney. The conversation took place about three hours before Chavez held a news conference and as Bush was preparing to leave his ranch near Crawford, Texas, for the trip to Washington.
"Obviously, we'll start over," Bartlett said. He said that he did not know whether Bush had a second choice for the spot and added that the president-elect is "on his own timetable."
However, with less than two weeks to go before the inauguration on Jan. 20, Bush doesn't have the luxury of time.
