Indian-American among Obama's nominees confirmed by Senate

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Feb 12 (PTI) Indian-American Suresh Kumar
was among 27 nominees of the Obama Administration who were
confirmed Friday by the United States Senate.
But at the same time before leaving for Presidential
Day recess, the Senate has not cleared the names of at least a
dozen Obama nominees.
"While this is a good first step, there are still
dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I
will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns
from recess," President Barack Obama said soon thereafter.
Obama warned that if the Senate does not approves/
confirm his nominees who are critical to run his
administration, he reserve the right to use his recess
appointment authority in the future.
Kumar, who served as a special adviser to the Clinton
foundation and was a news anchor in India from 1970 to 1985,
was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and
Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service.
President and managing partner of KaiZen Innovation,
Kumar is known for his expertise of public-private
partnership.
"At the beginning of the week, a staggering 63
nominees had been stalled in the Senate because one or more
senators placed a hold on their nomination. In most cases,
these holds have had nothing to do with the nominee's
qualifications or even political views, and these nominees
have already received broad, bipartisan support in the
committee process," Obama said. MORE PTI