This week, the Senate will push on with consideration of the remaining Clinton Administration nominations that have not been approved.
Those still awaiting confirmation include two full Cabinet department nominees, Energy Secretary-designate Federico Pena and Labor Secretary-designate Alexis Herman, as well as four non-Cabinet nominees: Bill Richardson to be U.N. ambassador, Anthony Lake to be CIA director, Charlene Barshefsky to be U.S. trade representative and Aida Alvarez to be SBA administrator.
Herman's nomination has bogged down over concerns about her involvement in a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the White House.
Roadblocks also may loom for Barshefsky, since Senate Commerce ranking member Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., as of late last week was planning to offer a controversial trade amendment to a waiver Barshefsky needs to get the job.
Because Barshefsky represented Canadian interests as a lawyer in private practice, she needs a waiver from the law barring those who have represented foreign interests from holding the top trade job.
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