Committee Votes to Clear USTR Nominee for Full Senate Consideration
The Senate Finance Committee on April 25 unanimously voted to advance President Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert Lighthizer to serve as U.S. trade representative to the Senate floor for a final confirmation vote. The committee also unanimously approved a legislative waiver (here) to exempt Lighthizer from legal requirements barring individuals who have represented foreign entities from serving as USTR or deputy USTR (see 1702070047). The affirmative votes came after committee Republicans agreed to work with Democrats toward a path forward for the Miners Protection Act, which would guarantee healthcare and pension funding for retired coal miners and widows.
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While committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., before the vote said he hoped the continuing resolution (CR) expected to pass by the end of this week will include the unrelated legislation, committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told reporters after the vote that he expects Lighthizer’s nomination to move quickly to the Senate floor regardless of when the other bill is considered. “We had to solve the healthcare problem, and that’s what we did today,” Hatch said. Hatch said the nomination and the legislative waiver allowing Lighthizer to serve as USTR will probably have to progress simultaneously. Wyden said he hopes the forthcoming CR will include the waiver and miners language. The House would need to approve the waiver for Lighthizer, and Trump would need to sign it, for the legislation to be valid. A House Ways and Means Committee GOP majority spokeswoman in February said members of her panel were talking to Finance about the Lighthizer waiver (see 1702070047), but she didn’t comment on April 25.
Wyden said Congress is “going to pull all the stops” to get Lighthizer confirmed and pass the miners benefits legislation. He and Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Joe Manchin of West Virginia expressed support for Lighthizer, while Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she would vote against Lighthizer’s confirmation if he doesn’t express fuller support for the Export-Import Bank after he told the committee during his March confirmation hearing that he would await Trump’s guidance before commenting on the bank’s role.
Hatch encouraged the Trump administration to send the Senate nominations for other unfilled trade positions requiring confirmation, and said he would “move them quickly.” The administration must still fill vacant positions for three deputy USTRs, chief agricultural negotiator, chief intellectual property and innovation negotiator, as well as CBP commissioner, and Commerce and Treasury under secretaries in the trade realm. Wyden and Hatch also pointed out an open seat on the International Trade Commission, after Trump withdrew the nomination of House Ways and Means Committee Democratic Minority Chief Trade Counsel Jason Kearns to serve for an eight-year term (see 1703020078).