Romano Fails Confirmation; Kolbes Narrowly Passes

MAVOCKE--The House of Delegates spent nearly half of working time on Thursday holding confirmation votes on several Cabinet nominations from Collester.

Among them was Bill Kolbes, President Byelle's nominee to replace out-going Environment Secretary Emily Savage. Kolbes is a former oil executive from Wellington, with long connections with the Byelle family. His past in the oil industry had many in the House and National Assembly bitterly opposed to his nomination.

"How can someone who worked in the oil industry, an industry that has done nothing but brutally harm and rape the environment for decades, be qualified for the position of Environment Secretary? How is that possible? It just doesn't make sense," said Rep. Bob Luego (N-WEL).

Dlg. Grace Kemp led the fight against Kolbes in the House, saying he is "a vicious enemy of the environment, and a Byelle crony."

Even some fellow Conservatives had apprehensions about Kolbes' nomination. Six of them voted against him. They include Victoria Albright (CEA), Brian Altamont (DMG), Greg Baxter (TRI), Brian Brown (TRI), Steven McIntosh (LIA), and Lee Schefsky (CAR).

Despite all of the criticism of Kolbes and his oil-man past, he still was confirmed--but narrowly. His nomination was passed by one vote, 28-27.

Other Cabinet nominees sailed through confirmation. Dr. Cornelius Savage, nominee for Secretary of Economy, passed by a vote of 41-14. Brad Davidson, nominee for Sec. of National Security, passed with a vote of 33-22, and Leann Foster-Townman, nominee for Sec. of Taxation and Currency, passed with a vote of 37-18. All three previously served as Under-Secretaries in their departments.

But Benita Romano, President Byelle's nominee for Secretary of Transporation, struggled in her pursuit of confirmation. Since Byelle nominated her a week ago, she has faced heavy criticism from delegates of all parties for her work as Under-Secretary at the Transportation Department. Her former boss, Sec. Claude Gormasson, also came under heavy fire after a string of small plane crashes happened in early 2007. The agency, led by Gormasson and Romano, was criticized for its slow response to the series of crashes and its bungled investigations.

"We did have some problems within the department during the period of time that this series of crashes occurred. I know that. I'm aware of that," Romano defensively told delegates during confirmation hearings.

Following the agency's poor response to the crashes, Sec. Gormasson was pressured to step down by several delegates and representatives. He did not immediately step down, and President Byelle did support him initially. However, two weeks ago, Gormasson announced he was leaving the department. He denied, though, that his departure was related to the scandal at the department.

When Gormasson resigned, it was logical for the president to nominate his Under-Secretary, Benita Romano. However, many on Capitol Hill felt Romano was partially responsible for the department's lackluster response to the airplane crashes, and questioned her nomination.

In a heated exchange with Dlg. Hanna Gorbachy (N-MON), Romano defended her performance as Under-Secretary.

"I know what I'm doing. I have served as the director of inland communications, and subsequently as the Under-Secretary of this department..."

"I'm not asking you for your resume, Ms. Romano. We know your credentials and employment history. I'm asking for an explanation as to why your department did such a poor job, and I'm asking you to tell us how someone like you, who was heavily involved in this scandal, can re-gain the trust of the department and its workers and can re-gain the trust of the Grassadellan people," Gorbachy said. "How can you bring the agency credibility when you were deeply embedded in the one of the worst controversies to rock this department in recent memory?"

"I don't know how to respond to that...I just don't," Romano replied.

"I know. You have no explanation for it. And that's because you are not fit for this position. You were deeply involved in the scandal, personally responsible, to an extent, for the agency's slow response...I'm not saying it's all your fault. It's not. It is mostly Secretary Gormasson's fault, and others in Congress. But you do share a portion of the responsibility, don't you agree?"

"I do. I do share a portion, but a small portion. And the fact is, that under my leadership, this department will thrive. It will move beyond where we were three, four, even six months ago. Under my direction, this department is going to make some serious changes," Romano vowed.

Romano and Gormasson were not the only ones facing fire during the airplane crash scandal. Dlg. Brian Brown (C-TRI), head of the House Transportation Committee, became a lightning rod for criticism from many in Congress for his seemingly inadequate job of working on the case.

Still, despite all the criticism, some delegates came to Romano's defense. Dlg. Sam Byelle (C-CAR) said Romano is "independent from the problems that have plagued the department of transportation. She is a different person than Claude Gormasson. They are not the same and she would do a different job as Secretary."

But Byelle's confidence in Romano was not enough. She failed confirmation by a vote of 29-26. Afterward, Romano said she was disappointed but respected the members' votes.

Collester was also taken by surprise at Romano's failed confirmation.

"We knew she would face some criticism, but we didn't expect so many within the Conservative Party to turn against her," said Press Secretary David Arnett.

Eight Conservative delegates voted against confirming Romano. Those included Brian Altamont (DMG), Greg Baxter (TRI), Brian Brown (TRI), Robert Hannity (MON), Steven McIntosh (LIA), Richard Parker (TRI), Lee Schefsky (CAR), and Adam Schindler (REM).

Upon hearing the results from Romano's failed vote, Collester announced a new nominee at around 3:30 PM today. President Byelle has now nominated Clayton Ashton, former head of the department's Armana division, to head the entire department. Ashton will face confirmation next Thursday. If confirmed, Ashton would become the first Asian-Grassadellan to head the Department of Transportation.