Bush searches for new labor choice

Wednesday, January 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” 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.

``I absolutely believe she would have been a great Cabinet secretary,'' Bush said Tuesday night at Andrews Air Force Base after arriving for a three-day visit to the nation's capital.

Still, ``I understand her reluctance to move forward,'' Bush said.

The president-elect was meeting at the Pentagon Wednesday with outgoing Defense Secretary William Cohen and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He also was to meet with budget advisers in the afternoon. Trying to divert attention from the Chavez flap, Bush was considering making several high-level appointments during his visit.

Republican advisers suggested Bush might fill the post of U.S. trade representative as early as Wednesday.

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 on 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.

Wednesday, 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 block, 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.

Republicans mentioned include 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; Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash.; and Eloise Anderson, former social services director in Wisconsin and California.

Talent and Bond did not get calls from Bush officials on Tuesday. Choosing Dunn could create problems for House Republicans, who barely control their chamber.

Chavez told a news conference the decision to bow out just a week after being named was entirely her own.

But Republican officials involved in the process said she reluctantly stepped aside under pressure from Bush's political team. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, made it clear the political team's willingness to fight for the nomination had waned amid questions about Chavez's credibility.

As of Tuesday night, Bush had not spoken to Chavez directly, Bartlett said. He discussed the situation by phone with Cheney, his chief of staff Andrew Card and Fred Fielding, an adviser who is overseeing the screening process for Bush.

Bush advisers said that the fact that Chavez had provided shelter for the undocumented worker did not come up in the initial vetting process.

The president-elect, in fact, told reporters in a terse exchange on Monday that he had only learned about the controversy the night before â€” after it had been the subject of news reports.

Bush transition officials at first said Chavez did not know the woman was an illegal immigrant at the time. But Mercado disputed this in news interviews, saying Chavez did know.

A source close to Chavez said that, during her first discussion with a Bush attorney, she did not remember her relationship with Mercado. But she was asked to think about whether there was anything in her background that might be embarrassing and, before her nomination was announced, Chavez recalled the situation. Chavez could not remember the details, the source said, so she called a former neighbor who had employed Mercado, hoping to refresh her memory as to when and how long Mercado had lived with her.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Chavez did not tell the neighbor what to say but warned her that the FBI might want to discuss the matter with her.

For its part, the FBI had inquired about that contact to see if there was anything improper about it.