Senate Committee Approves Key Nominations, Ranking Member Urges Action by Full Senate

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement after a business meeting in which the committee unanimously approved the nominations of Julie Becker, Steven Berk, and Elizabeth Wingo to be Associate Judges on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; Carol Waller Pope and Patrick Pizzella to be Members of the Federal Labor Relations Authority; Carolyn Lerner to be Special Counsel in the Office of Special Counsel; and Jeffrey Rosen to be a Governor, U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. The nominations will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

“I am pleased that our committee has moved to approve these non-controversial nominations to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the D.C. Superior Court and the Office of Special Counsel. The District of Columbia is the only jurisdiction in the country that must have its local judges approved by the Senate, and we do a disservice to the residents of our nation’s capital when we delay the confirmation of qualified nominees. Ms. Becker, Mr. Berk and Ms. Wingo will all make terrific additions to the Superior Court, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to move to approve these nominations quickly. I am also pleased that the committee has moved forward with the nominations of Carol Waller Pope and Patrick Pizzella to serve on the Federal Labor Relations Authority, as well as with the nomination of Carolyn Lerner to serve as Special Counsel in the Office of Special Counsel. The Office of Special Counsel serves as a crucial resource for protecting whistleblowers around the country who come forward to expose waste, fraud and abuse in government. It is critically important that we move forward with Ms. Lerner’s nomination in a timely manner.

“I am also pleased that we approved the nomination of Jeffrey Rosen to serve on the Postal Board of Governors. There are now six Postal Board of Governors nominees pending before the full Senate, five of which have been pending for more than a year. Some of them have even been waiting for confirmation since the last Congress. As a result, the Postal Service is currently down to one sitting Senate-confirmed Governor overseeing Postal Service operations. This is shameful. The Postal Service operates at the center of a $1.4 trillion printing, delivery and logistics industry that employs nearly 8 million people. At a time when the agency is in grave need of independent oversight and direction, I urge my Senate colleagues to confirm these nominees without further delay.”