Senate confirms international aid chief
Source: TheHill
November 30, 2015, 06:38 pm
Senate confirms international aid chief
The Senate on Monday signed off on a new administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) amid a growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. Senators voted 79-7 to confirm Gayle Smith to lead the agency, seven months after President Obama nominated her for the post.
Republican Sens. Roy Blunt (Mo.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Dean Heller (Nev.), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), James Risch (Idaho) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) voted against her nomination.
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Despite the bipartisan consensus around her nomination, Smith was delayed over partisan fighting on unrelated issues. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is running for president, said earlier this year that he would block all State Department nominations because of his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, was able to tee up Monday's vote before senators left for the week-long Thanksgiving recess.
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Cruz, as well as Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who are both running for the Republican presidential nomination, and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running for the Democratic nomination, missed Monday's vote.
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Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/261565-senate-confirms-international-aid-chief
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