Banking panel approves long-stalled Treasury nomination
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The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday approved the long-stalled nomination of Adam Szubin to a key Treasury Department post responsible for leading the battle against terrorism and financial crimes.
The committee's chairman, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., had delayed action on Szubin's and all other nominations before his panel, stubbornly refusing to act until winning his re-election primary last week. It's the panel's first confirmation vote since Republicans regained control of the chamber last year.
The committee approved Szubin's nomination on a 14-8 vote that reflected sweeping GOP opposition to President Barack Obama's controversial nuclear deal with Iran, which involves the lifting of sanctions on the longtime U.S. adversary.
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"I think he's a nice man, and he's obviously well-educated and qualified for a lot of jobs, probably that," Shelby said after the vote. "But the policies he'd have to carry out, a lot of us oppose them."
In a subsequent statement, Shelby added: "Mr. Szubin's role at the Treasury Department has required him to both promote and defend the administration's ill-conceived Iran nuclear agreement. I could not support his nomination today because of his participation in facilitating a deal that I believe is crippling to our national security."
The panel appears likely to act soon to fill vacancies on the Securities and Exchange Commission and approve a new director of the U.S. Mint. But a key appointee to the Export-Import Bank remains stuck, leaving the bank unable to approve larger financial transactions.
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Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, senior Democrat on the committee, said the panel has acted on just one of its 19 nominees. "I'm hopeful we'll move on a lot more than these. I hope we'll do Ex-Im."
The opposition to Szubin's nomination could spell trouble for speedy action by the full Senate, since any individual senator could delay a vote.
Szubin, who has served under both President Barack Obama and predecessor George W. Bush, has been in the anti-terror job in an acting capacity.