GSA nominee clears panel, awaits full Senate vote

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the nomination of Martha Johnson to head the General Services Administration late Monday. The nomination now will go to the full Senate for a vote.

Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., said in a statement Monday that Johnson possessed deep, firsthand knowledge of GSA and relevant experience from her private sector work.

Johnson, currently the vice president of culture at Falls Church, Va., Computer Sciences Corp., was chief of staff at GSA from 1996 to 2001 and served as co-leader of the team that reviewed GSA during the presidential transition.

"President Obama has made a wise choice in nominating her as GSA administrator," Lieberman said. "With the strong leadership Ms. Johnson will bring, GSA can ensure that the federal government is using cutting-edge technology across all operations to make buildings more energy efficient, lower costs, better engage with the public, and detect and defend against cyberattacks."

Ranking member Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged Johnson, if confirmed, to apply lessons learned from the committee's investigations into mismanagement of federal real property and contracting-related waste, fraud and abuse. Collins identified the shrinking acquisition workforce and ballooning procurement spending as "some of the many critical challenges awaiting the next administrator at GSA."