WASHINGTON - The Labor Department is suing two union officials alleging they invested pension funds in ''imprudent'' deals with companies owned by a top fund-raiser for President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The lawsuit names as defendants Jack Moore, former executive secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and John Grau, executive vice president of the National Electrical Contractors Association. The two managed the unions' National Electrical Benefit Fund, at the time worth $6 billion.

Terence McAuliffe, the fund-raiser who recently offered to help the Clintons purchase a home in New York, is not a defendant in the lawsuit. The Labor Department regulates those who manage workers' pensions, not those who do business with such funds.

The department alleges the pension fund lost money as a result of a loan and a partnership deal that comprised more than $47 million in investments with McAuliffe' companies. Tax records show the fund didn't receive all the principal and interest due under the loan.

Moore and Grau deny the government's allegations.