Sen. Josh Hawley is blocking swift confirmation of two nominees to serve at federal agencies, but it’s not because they’re liberals put forward by President Biden.
They’re Republicans who are ex-staffers of Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
Mr. Hawley said the former aides, recommended by Mr. McConnell to serve on the Federal Trade Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board, require further vetting before they’re green-lighted without a formal vote as part of a package that includes a slew of Biden nominees.
The blockade by the first-term Missouri Republican intensifies his long-running feud with Mr. McConnell, whom he’s been openly critical of since supporting Sen. Rick Scott of Florida’s failed bid earlier this year to become the new GOP leader.
“By agreeing to such a negotiated package in exchange for just a few Republican appointees you have personally deemed a priority, I believe we risk giving away too much,” Mr. Hawley wrote in a letter to Mr. McConnell last week.
Mr. McConnell’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Questions directed at the Kentucky Republican by reporters at the Capitol went unanswered.
The nominees in question are Todd Inman to the NTSB and Andrew Ferguson to the FTC. Both agencies have a bipartisan makeup that periodically requires presidents to nominate members of the opposite party.
The five-member FTC has three Democrats with two Republican vacancies, while the five-member NTSB has one Biden appointee, three from Trump and one vacant seat.
Mr. Hawley said he has further questions on Mr. Inman’s views about “various transportation policies, including rail safety and autonomous vehicles.” He said his concerns for Mr. Ferguson stem from his “philosophy concerning Big Tech, given the importance of that issue to our conference.”
Both men were nominated by Mr. Biden in July.
The Senate hoped to confirm them before lawmakers left Washington for the holidays, but the chamber adjourned Wednesday until Jan. 8.
Mr. Inman was previously a campaign aide to Mr. McConnell and chief of staff to Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is Mr. McConnell’s wife. While at the Department of Transportation, Mr. Inman was the subject of Politico reporting that said he helped Mr. McConnell and other political heavyweights in Kentucky gain special access to the agency and federal funding.
Mr. Inman would replace former NTSB Vice Chair Bruce Landsberg, a Trump appointee whose term expired at the end of 2022.
Mr. Ferguson is the Virginia solicitor general and was previously Mr. McConnell’s chief counsel. He also served as counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee to former GOP chairmen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
“If Republicans are planning to install dozens of Biden nominees for positions across the federal government — without a vote — in exchange for just a handful of our own selections, I want to be sure that we get our nominees right,” Mr. Hawley wrote to Mr. McConnell.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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