Three More Bush Picks Confirmed
The Senate Tuesday confirmed two more members of President Bush's Cabinet, as well as his budget director.
Voting in one roll call vote, the Senate approved Mel Martinez as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Anthony Principi as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It also confirmed Mitchell Daniels as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Martinez, the elected chief executive of Orange County, Florida, will be the first Cuban-American Cabinet secretary. He sailed through his confirmation process, as did Principi, who served as acting veterans affairs secretary during the administration of former President George Bush.
On Saturday, the Senate confirmed seven members of Mr. Bush's Cabinet; seven more still await approval.
The Senate planned to vote Wednesday on the nomination of Tommy Thompson, the Wisconsin governor, to head the Department of Health and Human Services. His selection was being used by Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., as an opportunity to debate whether the 1996 welfare overhaul was as successful as Thompson and others have claimed, but Thompson was expected to win easy approval.
Also expected to gain the Senate's assent on Wednesday were Elaine Chao as labor secretary, Norman Mineta as commerce secretary and New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Two of Mr. Bush's most controversial nominations are further behind in the pipeline.
On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was expected to approve the nomination of Gale Norton to be interior secretary, with final Senate approval possible later in the week.
A Wednesday vote was possible by the Senate Judiciary Committee on former Sen. John Ashcroft to be attorney general. But Democrats were considering trying to block that vote. A full Senate vote on Ashcroft was unlikely until next week.
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