The US Senate has put off for a day the vote on nomination of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State due to opposition from a Republican lawmaker, who has voiced concern over foreign donations to her husband Bill Clinton's foundation involved in humanitarian work globally.
However, the Senate swiftly confirmed seven other members of new President Barack Obama's team, including Steven Chu as Energy Secretary and Janet Napolitano as head of Homeland Security, with a single voice vote last evening.
But, the vote on Hillary's nomination was delayed by a day by the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, as a result of the opposition from Republican Senator John Cornyn, who sought more transparency from the Clinton Foundation.
The Foundation headed by former President Bill Clinton is a global non-profit organisation involved in social welfare and poverty alleviation work mostly in third world countries. A large number of donors to the foundation are from overseas, an issue of concern for Cornyn.
The Obama team and Democratic leaders were eager to confirm Hillary's nomination yesterday itself as they wanted the 61-year-old former First Lady to move to the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department as soon as possible, given the urgent foreign policy challenges faced by the US, specially in the Gulf and South Asia.
Cornyn, the Senator from Texas, who has been strongly opposing Clinton's nomination, can block a Senate voice vote for a day, but he cannot stop a roll call vote.
"I'm pleased to have the opportunity to have a full and open debate and an up-or-down vote on Senator Clinton's nomination," Cornyn said in a statement after he put a block on voice vote.
"Important questions remain unanswered concerning the Clinton Foundation and its acceptance of donations from foreign entities. Transparency transcends partisan politics and the American people deserve to know more," Cornyn said.
Both the Obama advisers and Hillary insist that there is enough transparency, as they have already reached an agreement under which the Clinton Foundation would release the name of its foreign donors.
John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters that the vote would now happen on Wedenesday evening. He said he expected Hillary to be approved by overwhelming majority.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee after a nomination hearing on January 13 had approved her nomination by 17-1 votes on January 17.
However, the Senate was yesterday quick enough to approve as many as seven of Obama's nominees within hours of his being sworn in.
Apart from Chu and Napolitano, those approved by the Senate were Arne Duncan (Education Secretary), Senator Ken Salazar (Interior Secretary), former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki (Veterans Affairs Secretary), former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (Agriculture Secretary) and Peter Orszag (Director of the Office of Management and Budget).
