Senate panel won't confirm Tomlinson

SENATE PANEL WON'T CONFIRM BUSH BROADCAST CHIEF
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
A White House nominee may lose his job overseeing U.S.-backed international TV and radio services after a Senate committee said on Wednesday it would not vote this year on another term for Kenneth Tomlinson, following a government report that said he used the office for personal gain. President George W. Bush in 2005 nominated Tomlinson to a second term as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees government international programming like Voice of America as well as Radio and TV Marti, which air Spanish-language broadcasts to Cuba. However, the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee will not take up his nomination this year, panel spokesman Andy Fisher told Reuters. Democrats in Congress have demanded President Bush fire Tomlinson. "We're not going to schedule it for the remainder of the year, and at that point it (the nomination) expires," he said. His term expired in 2004, but he is able to remain in office until Congress adjourns sometime later this year. President Bush could bypass Congress and install Tomlinson to another term using a so-called recess appointment. A White House spokeswoman and State Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the committee's plans.
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