Romney campaign scrambles after stumble on equal pay question

Mitt Romney’s economic and policy aides were caught off guard on Wednesday when asked whether the former Massachusetts governor supports equal-pay legislation signed into law by President Obama.

{mosads}Fresh off of a great day for Romney on Tuesday, when his main rival for the GOP nomination dropped out, the Romney campaign dispatched surrogates to knock Obama’s proposed “Buffet Rule” and to double down on their arguments that Obama’s policies have led to massive job losses for women.

On a conference call with reporters Wednesday were Romney’s policy director, Lanhee Chen, and Kevin Hassett, one of his economic policy advisers. The aides accused Obama of setting women back 20 years and promoting policies that led to the hemorrhaging of women in the workforce.

But, when asked by a reporter whether Romney supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which Obama signed in 2009 barely a week after taking office, the aides weren’t so sure.

“We’ll get back to you on that,” said one of the Romney surrogates.

Romney’s campaign responded by email about an hour later, but didn’t specifically answer whether Romney supported the law Obama signed.

“Women account for more than 92% of jobs lost under Barack Obama. Of course Mitt Romney supports pay equity for women. The real question is whether President Obama supports jobs for women,” said Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg.

Later, another Romney spokeswoman told The Hill that Romney would not change the current law.

The Ledbetter Act expands workers’ ability to sue over equal-pay discrimination claims. It allows the 180-day statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit to reset with each new discriminatory paycheck.

When the legislation was before Congress in January of 2009, most Republicans voted against the measure because of the provision on lawsuits, which they said would lead to more litigation.

Only three House Republicans and five Senate Republicans voted for the measure. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has endorsed Romney, supported the legislation.

The legislation was also an issue in the 2008 presidential race, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the GOP nominee, opposed it.

Obama’s campaign wasted no time making political hay over the apparent uncertainty about Romney’s position, releasing a statement barely one hour after the conference call had started. The statement came not from a spokesman or aide, but from Ledbetter herself.

“I was shocked and disappointed to hear that Mitt Romney is not willing to stand up for women and their families. If he is truly concerned about women in this economy, he wouldn’t have to take time to ‘think’ about whether he supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,” she said. “Anyone who wants to be president of the United States shouldn’t have to think about whether they support pursuing every possible avenue to ensuring women get the same pay for the same work as men.”

Both campaigns have made a priority of winning female voters, with polls showing a significant gender gap between Obama and Romney.

— This story was last updated at 1:03 p.m