Lauren McFerran, deputy staff director and chief labor counsel for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, didn’t come to Washington in 2002 to work in Congress. But a few years after landing here, she went to Capitol Hill and stayed — racking up a string of victories that recently included the confirmation of key Obama administration nominees.
This year, McFerran, 36, assisted the committee’s chairman, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), in overcoming Republican opposition to secure Senate confirmation for Labor Secretary Thomas Perez — the former head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division — and four new National Labor Relations Board members. With the confirmation of the labor board members, the employment watchdog had its first full slate of Senate-confirmed members since 2003.
