U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer was unanimously approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, sending his nomination to the Senate floor.
[Dan Dupont] April 25th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade]
The panel also approved a statutory waiver to allow him to serve as USTR.
The quick approval followed weeks of debate among Republicans and Democrats over the waiver and Democrats’ attempts to tie their support for it to a miners healthcare and pensions bill.
The two sides agreed in the end to a deal to back only the miners’ healthcare benefits.
The waiver and the miners deal are expected to be part of a continuing resolution Congress must pass to fund the government after April 28 and avoid a government shutdown.
Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said during the markup of the Lighthizer nomination that he was “happy we have followed the the historical precedent” on the waiver, even though he was not convinced of its necessity.
