Labor Shortage

With the Democrats running the show in the first full budget cycle since they re-took control of Congress last fall, there aren't that many agencies facing budget cuts. But one Labor Department office is -- and it's the Republicans who aren't happy about it. The Washington Times reports today on the House's move to cut 4 percent from the budget of the Office of Labor-Management Standards, which oversees whether private-sector labor unions spend their members' dues legally. A little over a week ago, the House approved $45.7 million for OLMS in the fiscal 2008 Labor-HHS appropriations bill. That's $2 million less than in 2007, and $11 million shy of what President Bush sought for the agency. Now at least two Senate Republicans are seeking to undo the House's action.