Gulf drilling dispute hits another Obama nominee
Landrieu and Vitter support a hold on Fish and Wildlife Service nominee; OMB director's confirmation was delayed over similar issues.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., continues to hound the White House over limits on undersea drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and other matters.
Landrieu -- who previously held up confirmation of Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew over the administration's post-BP oil spill drilling moratorium -- announced support on Wednesday for a hold that Sen. David Vitter, R-La., put on the nomination of Daniel Ashe, to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Landrieu said the hold should stay in place "until the Interior Department issues new deepwater permits" for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Also on Wednesday, Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote Obama urging him to ask Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency supplemental funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency so its disaster relief fund will not go broke as expected in June.
House Republicans have proposed taking funding from the Coast Guard and other homeland security programs to cover the FEMA shortfall, she said.