The strange saga of Lisa Gomez’s nomination to run the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) continued Wednesday when it was narrowly rejected by the Senate.
To complicate matters further, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, voted against the nomination in a procedural move meant to bring it to the floor again in the future.
The vote was 49-51, with Schumer joining Republicans and Vice President Harris not in attendance to break a potential tie.
“I fully support Lisa Gomez’s nomination to lead EBSA and am confident she’s the right person for the job,” Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair said in a statement. “The vote today shows that we will ultimately have the votes we need to confirm this highly qualified nominee—and I look forward to getting that done as soon as possible.”
The White House announced last July that President Biden chose Gomez for the post, following Preston Rutledge, the last Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary and, following Rutledge’s departure, Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson and Ali Khawar, who were acting assistant secretaries.
However, because the Senate failed to act before Congress adjourned last December, the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee HELP had to reapprove the Gomez nomination before sending it for full confirmation, according to the National Association of Plan Advisors.
“From her background, [Gomez] is eminently qualified,” Former EBSA Assistant Secretary Rutledge explained in an interview at the NAPA 401(k) Summit in early April. “The EBSA position has always been senior-level, but something noncontroversial enough in the past. You put the nomination together with maybe two dozen other nominations in a unanimous consent motion in December or July. That’s how I got through.”
Gomez was on the list for December, he added, “but all it takes is for one senator to object, and it’s not going to happen. It doesn’t mean the person can’t be confirmed; they have to have a floor vote.”
“It’s not about her or her qualifications; it’s just the nature of the beast.”