Senate Could Vote on State Department Arms Control Nominee, Rose Gottemoeller, Next Week
Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
2/28/2014
An attempt to get two top Department of Energy nominees confirmed hit a roadblock this week when an anonymous hold was placed on the pair. Senate Republicans attempted to “hotline” the nominations of Frank Klotz, the Administration’s pick to be National Nuclear Security Administration chief, and Elizabeth Robinson, the nominee for Under Secretary of Energy for Performance and Management. “Hotlining” would have allowed Senate leaders to bring the long-stalled nominations of Klotz and Robinson forward and then vote on the nominations without having to go through the more time-consuming process of filing for cloture. Republicans, however, have blocked attempts to quickly move nominations through the Senate, including at least once before in December, over their frustration with a change in the Senate’s filibuster rules.
At the same time, Senate leaders moved forward on the nomination of Rose Gottemoeller to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filing for cloture on Gottemoeller’s long-pending nomination as well as a handful of others. The Senate is expected to take up the nominations early next week, and because of a change in Senate rules last year that requires only a majority vote to cut off debate on nominations, Democrats are expected to get cloture. Gottemoeller would be subject to up to eight hours of debate before her nomination is voted on, a Congressional aide said.
‘Nuclear Option’ Delaying Noms
The same rule change, known as the “nuclear option,” has delayed dozens of other nominees, including Klotz and Robinson. Klotz, a retired Air Force General and the first commander of Global Strike Command, breezed through his confirmation hearing in September and was not expected to face any substantive opposition to his nomination. However, his confirmation was slowed in the fall when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put a broad hold on nominees in an attempt to force the Administration to provide more answers about the Benghazi attacks.
Robinson cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee after a confirmation hearing in September as well. The new DOE Under Secretary for Management and Performance position, created as part of a Department reorganization announced this summer, will oversee DOE’s offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management, as well as several support offices. Like Klotz, Robinson’s nomination was slowed by a confirmation battle in the fall after Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) placed a hold on her nomination due to concerns regarding contracts at NASA. Robinson currently serves as NASA’s Chief Financial Officer.
