Despite tough opposition, a Buffalo native has been named to serve as the next Secretary of Labor. The senate voted 54-to 46 today confirming Thomas Perez after a four month-long fight over President Obama's nominee.
Lawmakers conducted the confirmation vote on party lines.
Perez is the son of Dominican immigrants who now heads the Justice Department's civil rights division.
Democrats praise him as an aggressive advocate of voting and civil rights laws, while Republicans say he is a liberal ideologue who selectively enforces laws according to his political views.
The 51-year-old Perez was born in Buffalo. He's a 1979 graduate of Canisius High School and once worked as a trash collector.