GOP senator stalls Duckworth's nomination
The appointment of Tammy Duckworth as assistant secretary of U.S. Veterans Affairs stalled Thursday, just before the Senate took a two-week spring recess.
The action was taken by Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee.
Duckworth, who served in the Iraq war and is a major in the Illinois National Guard, testified before that committee Wednesday. The Hoffman Estates resident was Illinois veterans affairs director under ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The Senate panel was not expected to meet on Friday, according to David Ward, Burr's press secretary.
The delay in Duckworth's appointment has to do with the fact that Burr had received three questionnaires with three different versions of the answers from her, Ward said. He characterized the forms as FBI background information that every nominee must provide.
"We are waiting on one definitive answer from Major Duckworth," he said. "We have no complaint against her, we are waiting on the necessary paperwork."
He also said it was possible the matter could be resolved Thursday as senators worked late into the night before recess.
The delay in approving Duckworth's appointment as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs sparked anger from a veterans group called VoteVets.org.
The main problem is that Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs, will have difficulty changing the department into a 21st century organization without having assistants on board, said Brian McGough, legislative adviser for the group.
"How dare Sen. Burr needlessly delay the nomination of a war hero like Tammy Duckworth to perform critical duties at the Department of Veterans Affairs," Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org, said in a statement.
He said the department is overloaded with troops coming home.
Duckworth had planned to be sworn in Friday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she underwent rehabilitation after losing both her legs in 2004 in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was piloting.
The confirmation of W. Scott Gould as deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs was expected to go through.