WASHINGTON: In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed former wrestling entertainment executive Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration as part of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
The Senate voted 81-19 to confirm McMahon, who helped start and grow World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said McMahon will “prioritize growing jobs over growing government bureaucracy.”
“In so many states, including mine, that’s a welcome change from Washington,” McConnell said.
The Senate has been split mostly along party lines on most of Trump’s Cabinet choices. But McMahon has faced little resistance after assuring lawmakers that she believes the SBA should continue as a Cabinet-level, stand-alone agency and that she would be a strong advocate for small business within the new administration.
“Mrs. McMahon made it very clear that she has the experience, understanding and instincts necessary to bolster America’s small business community and advocate for much-needed regulatory reforms,” said Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship.
Leading up to the vote for McMahon, the Senate narrowly approved Steven Mnuchin to serve as the next secretary of the Treasury Department despite strong Democratic objections over a banker they dubbed the “foreclosure king.”
The Senate also approved David Shulkin to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
McMahon has continued to donate heavily to GOP groups and candidates, and was a multimillion-dollar backer of two political action committees working to secure Trump’s victory in the November election.
The SBA is best known for small business loans and disaster aid for companies and entrepreneurs. It also monitors government officials’ compliance with contract laws.
Medicare pick
Trump’s pick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid advised Vice President Mike Pence on health care issues while he was Indiana’s governor, a post she maintained amid a web of business arrangements — including one that ethics experts say conflicted with her public duties.
A review by the Associated Press found Seema Verma and her small Indianapolis-based firm made millions through consulting agreements with at least nine states while also working under contract for Hewlett Packard. The company holds a financial stake in the health care policies Verma’s consulting work helped shape in Indiana and elsewhere.
Her firm, SVC Inc., collected more than $6.6 million in consulting fees from the state of Indiana since 2011, records show. At the same time, she received over $1 million through a contract with Hewlett, the largest operator of Medicaid claims processing systems.
Last year, her firm collected an additional $316,000 for work done for the state of Kentucky as a subcontractor for HP Enterprises, according to documents obtained by AP through public records requests.
In financial disclosures posted this week, Verma reported she has an agreement to sell SVC Inc. to Health Management Associates of Lansing, Michigan, within 90 days of her confirmation.
In a statement, a spokesman for Verma said she was “fully transparent” about her relationship with HP and noted the company’s work for the state predates Verma’s contract with the company. Verma faces a panel hearing Thursday.
Labor secretary pick
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman isn’t ready to say he’s supporting fast-food executive Andrew Puzder as Trump’s secretary of labor. A spokesman for Portman confirms he is one of at least six GOP senators who are waiting to hear Puzder answer questions Thursday at his confirmation hearing.
The CEO of CKE Restaurants Inc. has acknowledged employing a housekeeper who was not authorized to work in the U.S. Puzder says he fired her about five years ago but did not pay the related taxes until after Trump nominated him Dec. 9.