Senate Confirms Penny Pritzker to Be Commerce Secretary, 97 to 1

The Senate confirmed Penny Pritzker to be President Obama's Commerce Secretary on Tuesday by a vote of 97 to 1 — even though her nomination was supposed to be excitingly controversial. Instead, it was a rare moment of boring bipartisan cooperation.

Pritzker was an early supporter of Obama's, but her business and financial records made her the Democratic version of Mitt Romney. Pritzker is an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, had faced disputes with unions over hotel working conditions, and had accounts in the Cayman Islands. She accidentally understated her income by $80 million.

But in her confirmation hearing, Republicans weren't interested in her finances or her famous family. Instead, Politico's Tarini Parti reported, the hearings were "drama free." President Obama, in a statement, praised the "bipartisan action" in Congress.