(Reuters) - A Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday voted largely along party lines to approve President Joe Biden's nominees for two key posts involving worker protections.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) voted 12-10 to send the nomination of civil rights lawyer Karla Gilbride to serve as general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote.
In a separate 13-9 vote, senators approved the nomination of Jessica Looman, a U.S. Department of Labor official and former trade union lawyer, to head the department office that enforces federal wage laws.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, voted to approve both nominees. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted in favor of Looman and against Gilbride.
None of the committee's members, including Republicans who voted against the nominees, spoke about the nominations before the votes. There has been little opposition to the nominees, and they did not face pointed questions from Republicans during confirmation hearings earlier this year.
Gilbride and Looman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gilbride, who works at nonprofit law firm Public Justice in Washington, D.C., has won a string of victories in challenges to companies' use of mandatory arbitration to handle workers' and consumers' legal claims.
Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court in May unanimously agreed with Gilbride that companies...
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