Earlier today, GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell canceled the GOP filibuster against the confirmation of Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor. That meant no cloture vote.
A few minutes ago, the Senate confirmed Solis by a margin of 80 - 17.
This is a huge victory for progressives and, especially for working men and women. They'll have a Secretary who is on their side. And, it's also the first victory in the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The Republicans made this nomination about that legislation -- and Solis won big despite their repeated efforts to block her.
Congratulations to Secretary Solis. She's got her hands full trying to restore the Department of Labor, which was pretty much eviscerated by Bush's Labor Secretary, Elaine Chao, wife of Mitch McConnell.
UPDATE: The Roll Call vote is here. The 17 GOP no votes are pretty much the worst of the worst, including the GOP's leading voice, David Vitter:
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)
