The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday to approve the nominations of two for trade posts at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, forwarding those nominations to the full Senate.
The panel failed to have a quorum present initially, so the votes were held later on the sidelines of the Senate. The panel approved 27-1 the nomination of Sarah Bianchi to be deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia, Africa, investment, services, textiles, and industrial competitiveness.
The panel also cleared 25-3 Jayme Ray White to be a deputy U.S. trade representative for the Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Middle East, labor, and environment.
White and Bianchi told lawmakers in the confirmation hearings that the lapse in Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) should not keep the Biden administration from pursuing new trade agreements provided those deals were constructed to be able to win bipartisan backing in Congress.
But the two did not signal the administration was ready to pursue any new trade deals at this point.