The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unexpectedly canceled Thursday’s confirmation vote for Labor secretary nominee Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif, after finding out her husband Sam Sayyad paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business.
News of her husband’s tax issue came just before the Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee was scheduled to meet to consider Solis’s nomination, which had been delayed by questions over her role on the board of the pro-labor organization American Rights at Work. A source said that committee members did not learn about the tax issue until today.
Solis’ financial disclosures list Sayyad’s business, Sam’s Foreign and Domestic Auto Center, as one of the couple’s main assets, worth between $50,000 and $100,000. The disclosure form Solis filed after her nomination also lists bank accounts containing between $250,000 and $500,000.
In the daily White House briefing White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, “She’s not a partner in that business,” Gibbs said. “We’re not going to penalize her for her husband’s business mistakes.”
Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., issued a joint statement saying the hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
“Today’s executive session was postponed to allow members additional time to review the documentation submitted in support of Rep. Solis’ nomination to serve in the important position of Labor Secretary. There are no holds on her nomination and members on both sides of the aisle remain committed to giving her nomination the fair and thorough consideration that she deserves. We will continue to work together to move this nomination forward as soon as possible.”
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