In the midst of delays and back and forth about nominees for the critical regulatory agencies, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is examining the Senate confirmation process and federal vacancies.
03/16/2022 3:45 P.M.
3 minute read
Nominees for regulatory agencies with oversight over the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry remain on hold while members of Congress continue to make decisions. Meanwhile, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing March 3 to examine the U.S. Senate’s confirmation process for nominees from The White House and Federal Vacancies.
Here are a few of those updates you should know from Capitol Hill:
- The Senate Commerce Committee met again March 3 to consider the nominations of Gigi Sohn for the Federal Communications Commission and Alvaro Bedoya for the Federal Trade Commission. Votes were delayed at the committee’s Feb. 2 hearing due to the absence of S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. Lujan suffered a stroke and returned to Congress March 3. He was among 14 Democrats to vote to advance the nominations for Sohn and Bedoya during the hearing. However, Republicans on the committee had 14 votes in oppositions to the nominations—resulting in a tie vote being presented to the U.S. Senate. If Sohn is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the FCC will have a 3-2 Democratic majority. Geoffrey Starks serves in the remaining Democratic seat on the commission and Jessica Rosenworcel was confirmed as chair last year, ACA International previously reported. Bedoya was nominated to the FTC in place of Rohit Chopra after he started his term as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- The Senate’s confirmation process for nominees like Sohn and Bedoya was on the agenda for another Senate committee during a March 3 hearing. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee reached a point of unanimity among witnesses and most of the committee that there are too many positions that require Senate confirmation of a nominee. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, ranking member of the committee, pushed back on the notion that the vetting process itself should be shortened arbitrarily. There did seem to be some agreement that it, too, needed to be updated and streamlined, particularly in the way that candidates are required to disclose and divest financial assets, which one witness said has not kept up with the pace of innovation in the financial sector. The impacts of lengthy vacancies were also picked apart, with general agreement that the overreliance on acting officials across administrations has severely weakened the ability of the federal government to serve the American people.
- At the Federal Reserve, meanwhile, another nomination is stalled. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W-Va., said he will oppose the nomination of Sara Bloom Raskin, remained at the Senate Banking Committee over a Republican “boycott of a committee vote on her nomination,” Politico reports. However, Bloom Raskin withdrew her candidacy for the position a day after Manchin announced his opposition, CNBC There were also partisan divides over her stance on climate change.Manchin’s decision would have blocked Bloom Raskin’s confirmation from advancing to the Senate floor, according to the Politico.. On a broader level, Politico also reported that the delay in Bloom Raskin’s confirmation signaled another setback in President Joe Biden’s efforts to fill financial regulatory posts in Washington, D.C.
For more important updates on Capitol Hill and for advocacy opportunities, ACA International members are invited to register for the Washington Insights Fly-In 2022 May 18-19.
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