Senate Commerce to vote on Obama’s FTC nominee

The Senate Commerce Committee will vote next week on President Obama’s pick to fill the open seat at the Federal Trade Commission.

The committee will vote on FTC nominee Terrell McSweeny Tuesday evening in addition to considering nominees for the Executive Office of the President and the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, the committee announced Thursday.

{mosads}McSweeny has been the Department of Justice’s Chief Counsel for Competition Policy and Intergovernmental Relations. Previously, McSweeny worked for Vice President Joe Biden’s as his Domestic Policy Advisor and as his Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director when he was in the Senate.

Last month — as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was preventing the committee from reporting Obama’s pick for Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Tom Wheeler, to the floor — an unidentified senator held up McSweeny’s nomination.

A Commerce Committee spokesman said Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) “was surprised to learn there were Republican objections to her nomination, but he’s certain that his colleagues will ultimately confirm her.”

“As the Chairman said during Ms. McSweeny’s nomination hearing, she is extremely qualified for this position and needs to be confirmed now so the FTC can fully execute on its mission to protect the nation’s consumers,” the spokesman said.