Sen. Josh Hawley is obstructing swift affirmation of two nominees to serve at federal companies, nevertheless it’s not as a result of they’re liberals put ahead by President Biden.
They’re Republicans who’re ex-staffers of Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
Mr. Hawley stated the previous aides, really helpful by Mr. McConnell to serve on the Federal Trade Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board, require additional vetting earlier than they’re green-lighted with no formal vote as a part of a bundle that features a slew of Biden nominees.
The blockade by the first-term Missouri Republican intensifies his long-running feud with Mr. McConnell, whom he’s been brazenly essential of since supporting Sen. Rick Scott of Florida’s failed bid earlier this yr to grow to be the brand new GOP chief.
“By agreeing to such a negotiated package in exchange for just a few Republican appointees you have personally deemed a priority, I believe we risk giving away too much,” Mr. Hawley wrote in a letter to Mr. McConnell on Wednesday.
Mr. McConnell’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark. Questions directed on the Kentucky Republican by reporters on the Capitol went unanswered.
The nominees in query are Todd Inman to the NTSB and Andrew Ferguson to the FTC. Both companies have a bipartisan make-up that periodically requires presidents to appoint members of the other celebration.
The five-member FTC has three Democrats with two Republican vacancies, whereas the five-member NTSB has one Biden appointee, three from Trump and one vacant seat.
Mr. Hawley stated he has additional questions on Mr. Inman’s views about “various transportation policies, including rail safety and autonomous vehicles.” He stated his considerations for Mr. Ferguson stem from his “philosophy concerning Big Tech, given the importance of that issue to our conference.”
Both males had been nominated by Mr. Biden in July.
The Senate hoped to substantiate them earlier than lawmakers left Washington for the vacations, however the chamber adjourned Wednesday till Jan. 8.
Mr. Inman was beforehand a marketing campaign aide to Mr. McConnell and chief of workers to Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who’s Mr. McConnell’s spouse. While on the Department of Transportation, Mr. Inman was the topic of Politico reporting that stated he helped Mr. McConnell and different political heavyweights in Kentucky achieve particular entry to the company and federal funding.
Mr. Inman would change former NTSB Vice Chair Bruce Landsberg, a Trump appointee whose time period expired on the finish of 2022.
Mr. Ferguson is the Virginia solicitor basic and was beforehand Mr. McConnell’s chief counsel. He additionally served as counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee to former GOP chairmen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
“If Republicans are planning to install dozens of Biden nominees for positions across the federal government — without a vote — in exchange for just a handful of our own selections, I want to be sure that we get our nominees right,” Mr. Hawley wrote to Mr. McConnell.
