Thomas Perez, the Justice Department’s top civil rights enforcer and the White House’s pick to be labor secretary, never broke a sweat during his hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Thursday morning. He had little need to, as the questioning rarely got tough.

Perez is a controversial choice, but Republicans failed to generate any heat at the hearing. Democrats ably defended him. In the end, nothing happened to upset his  chances of confirmation.