U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said Sunday she is reserving judgment on President-elect Bush’s controversial nomination of Linda Chavez as secretary of labor.

Snowe was the lone Republican on a television panel that included Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. In his opening remarks, CNN “Late Edition” host Wolf Blitzer pointed out that women are becoming an ever-stronger force in the Senate with a record 13 taking seats in the 107th Congress.

Snowe said she wants to hear all the details about Chavez, who is said to have provided spending money to an illegal alien who lived in her home and performed some chores in the early 1990s.

“It’s difficult to speculate until we have all the facts,” she said.

Snowe said that despite criticisms of a new power-sharing agreement, which will divide committees 50-50 between the major parties to reflect the Senate’s new makeup, she thinks it will work.

“In the final analysis, you essentially need bipartisan support to move any piece of legislation in the Senate,” she said.

Boxer took the opportunity to praise Snowe for supporting the arrangement.

“She really tried to work behind the scenes for fairness for both Republicans and Democrats,” Boxer said.

Snowe offered her ideas on a few other controversial developments in Washington:

. On the nomination of former Sen. John Ashcroft for attorney general, Snowe said the Missouri Republican is unquestionably a credentialed and able person. “We’re not selecting Cabinet positions and appointees on the basis of their [ideological] positions essentially. It’s not a litmus test. It’s a question of whether these individuals are capable.”

. On the most famous new female senator, Snowe said that she believes Hillary Clinton will “do a great job and I think she’ll fit in well with the Senate.”