President Biden’s nominee, Jack Lew, is expected to have a Senate hearing on Oct. 18.
The White House has been working urgently in the past 24 hours to get a Senate confirmation process in motion for President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, according to two White House officials.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is now expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, a former Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff during the Obama administration, as early as Oct. 18, according to three people familiar with the plans. Biden nominated Lew more than a month ago.
The Senate is not in session this week. But the White House officials said they hope lawmakers in both parties will agree with the president on the need to quickly confirm Lew amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Everyone understands the importance behind it,” one White House official said.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is now expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, a former Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff during the Obama administration, as early as Oct. 18, according to three people familiar with the plans.
But the White House officials said they hope lawmakers in both parties will agree with the president on the need to quickly confirm Lew amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Tom Nides, Biden’s former ambassador to Israel, told NBC News in an interview that the Senate needs to confirm his successor “immediately” upon return.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., noted the U.S. is without an ambassador in multiple countries in the region and said partisan wrangling that leads to such vacancies “sends a dangerous signal and encourages adventurism by our adversaries.”
Ambassadors to Israel and Egypt and the assistant administrator for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) await committee hearings.
Lew also worked as the deputy secretary of state for management and resources and played a “key role” in supporting Israel’s effort to join the Organization for Economic Operation and Development, a White House official said.
The original article contains 734 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!