The Senate Thursday overwhelmingly confirmed Tom Strickland's nomination as assistant Interior secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, but Republican holds might delay the appointment of two of his fellow deputies at the department.
The Senate, 89-2, approved Strickland, who will continue to be Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's chief of staff. He is only the second of President Obama's nominees for Interior to be confirmed.
Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, Thursday announced he will try to hold up the nomination of Hilary Tompkins to be solicitor at Interior because he wants Salazar to clarify the administration's position on an agreement reached in 2003 between Utah and Interior, where the department agreed to stop designating land as wilderness study areas. Tompkins as solicitor would have to defend that agreement, which resulted from a lawsuit Utah filed against the federal government in 1996.
"I need to better understand the legal opinions and director of who will be the department's chief legal officer, and the answers provided just don't cut it," Bennett said. He sent a letter to Salazar Thursday seeking clarification.
Bennett also has a hold on David Hayes to be Interior deputy secretary because he wants more answers regarding why the administration canceled oil and gas leases in Utah.
Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, is threatening to hold up the nomination of the Interior Department's second-in-command to get more answers on why the Obama administration canceled oil and gas leases in his state.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved the nomination of David Hayes to be deputy Interior secretary, 17-5. Bennett afterward said he will put a hold on the nomination until he sits down with Hayes and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about those leases. "We've been trying to get an appointment with them; I think maybe now they'll give us one," Bennett said after the vote. An Interior spokesman said Salazar and Hayes "are looking forward to talking to Senator Bennett about his concerns."
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By WINTER CASEY
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar welcomed yet another "czar" to the Obama administration today. As the "recovery czar" for the Department of the Interior, Chris Henderson will oversee more than $3 billion the department plans to invest in communities, parks, and public lands.
Henderson, who has been named senior adviser to the secretary for economic recovery, has served as the chief operating officer for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper since 2006 and also has experience in private equity investing.
National Journal reported in February about the multitude of czars Obama has named or promised to name in his administration. Still yet to be filled are the congressionally created White House position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator, or "IP czar," and the long-promised tech czar post. Obama reportedly has selected Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be the nation's next drug czar and Melissa Hathaway may become the next cybersecurity czar.
By ALEXIS SIMENDINGER
The Senate acted swiftly just hours after President Obama's inauguration ceremonies to confirm six of his Cabinet nominees as well as his budget director.
By unanimous consent, the Senate confirmed at 3:42 p.m. Tuesday the nominations of Obama's picks to lead the departments of Energy (Steven Chu), Education (Arne Duncan), Homeland Security (Janet Napolitano), Interior (Ken Salazar), Veterans Affairs (Eric Shinseki) and Agriculture (Tom Vilsack).
The Senate also confirmed Peter Orszag to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, a Cabinet-level post. With those seven approvals, Obama came close to matching President George W. Bush's record of moving seven of his nominees into their new posts in 2001 on the same afternoon he was sworn in.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's confirmation to be secretary of State was delayed by a day at the insistence of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who requested a roll-call vote on her nomination. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate will have three hours to debate Clinton's appointment Wednesday before they vote Wednesday afternoon.
"I expect her to be easily confirmed," Cornyn conceded during an interview. But he explained that he wanted to deny Clinton unanimous-consent affirmation on Inauguration Day so he could use a floor vote to "air my concerns" that Bill and Hillary Clinton have not been "transparent enough" about President Clinton's foundation fundraising from foreign nationals. Cornyn wants the Clintons to do "more work" to eliminate conflicts of interest.
"If it doesn't get handled now, then it probably won't get handled, so it's important to talk about it," he told National Journal.
Cornyn said GOP senators may seek to place a hold on the confirmation of Eric Holder to be attorney general, once Holder wins approval from the Judiciary Committee, which could happen Wednesday. Such a hold would carry Senate consideration over into next week.
As he departed the Capitol Tuesday, Cornyn said he had spoken to Hillary Clinton about his concerns, and explained that he hoped to win changes in the disclosure agreement worked out between President Clinton and the government, because she is the nation's "top diplomat." The former first lady told Cornyn she had agreed to unusual disclosures and accountability measures to make her husband's transactions more visible, and that she hoped that any additional steps the Senate seeks would not be "specific to her," Cornyn said. Their conversations, he added, were "cool and civil. She understands the concerns."
By DAVID HERBERT
President-elect Obama announced the selection of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to lead the Agriculture Department and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to head up the Interior Department at a press conference this morning.
Obama stressed that in addition to safeguarding the environment, both departments will play a central role in domestic energy production.
"Our wide open spaces are not only a blessing to be enjoyed, they are the foundation of a brighter future," he said. "How we harness our natural resources -- from the farmlands of Iowa to the springs of Colorado -- will speak not only to our quality of life, but to our economic growth and our energy future."
Salazar and Vilsack aren't quite a slam dunk for the green wing of the party. Salazar has been a fierce opponent of oil-shale exploration, but he was also part of a bipartisan coalition of senators who signed onto a plan that would have expanded offshore drilling opportunities. Vilsack has been a staunch supporter of biofuels, which have serious skeptics in the environmental community, and has been a close friend of the agribusiness community as well.
Still, Obama said business interests will be one of the stakeholders -- not the stakeholder -- in decisions about conservation and agriculture.
"It's time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families," he said. "It means ensuring that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers, but family farmers and the American people."
Salazar, who arrived at the press conference in his trademark cowboy hat and bolo tie, will take over an Interior Department that was rocked by charges of sexual misconduct, drug use and graft earlier this year. Salazar is the former attorney general of Colorado.
Vilsack also adds a new wrinkle to Obama's "team of rivals." As a short-lived candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination, the former governor becomes Obama's fourth primary opponent in the administration, joining Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson. After dropping out of the race in February 2007, Vilsack endorsed Clinton in the primaries.
