GSA, OIRA Nominations Advance to Full Senate

WASHINGTON— Today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a business meeting to consider the nominations of Dan Tangherlini to be Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) and Howard Shelanski to be Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget. Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statements after the Committee reported out both nominations by a voice vote. The nominations now go to the full Senate for consideration.

Chairman Carper made the following statement in response to Mr. Tangherlini’s nomination:

“Over the past year, Dan Tangherlini has successfully led the General Services Administration as its Acting Administrator, proving that he has the know-how and capability to lead this critical agency,” said Chairman Carper. “GSA’s mission is to help other agencies purchase goods and services, manage property, promote good business practices throughout government and save taxpayers money by promoting efficiency. I often talk about the need for leaders to lead by example, which means that GSA itself should be a model of efficiency. Unfortunately that has not always been the case, and I think part of the problem stems from the lack of steady and continuous leadership. Confirming Mr. Tangherlini will provide badly needed stability for this key agency, which has had eight different leaders in the past eight years, with all but two of them serving in an acting capacity. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the full Senate to move this nomination quickly so Mr. Tangherlini can continue to help the General Service Administration make our federal government perform better and at less cost to the taxpayer.”

Chairman Carper made the following statement in response to Mr. Shelanski’s nomination:

“The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget has the important task of reviewing regulations that agencies draft to help implement the laws that Congress enacts,” said Chairman Carper. “The decisions of this important office can be felt throughout our government and economy. The head of OIRA thus has several critical roles in determining how citizens will interact with their government. I am pleased that the President has selected a nominee with the training and experience to take on these important challenges. Mr. Shelanski’s leadership will prove to be an asset to OIRA. I look forward to working with my colleagues to move forward with this critical nomination.”