Senate Panel Confirms John Berry

Updated and Corrected 4:55 p.m. ET 4/2/09
The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee today unanimously confirmed by voice vote the nomination of John Berry to serve as director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Committee staffers say he will not earn confirmation from the full Senate until after its two-week recess, which starts Monday.

“I’d like the federal government to be the best employer, the model employer for the nation," Berry told the committee last week, adding later that "We need to put in place what works." He also promised an "open access" policy in his relations with federal workers unions, who have enthusiastically endorsed his nomination.

UPDATE 4/2/09: The Senate is expected to confirm Berry late tonight, according to a committee staffer.

UPDATE 4/1/09: The committee also approved the nomination of Jane Holl Lute to be Homeland Security deputy secretary by a vote of 14 to 1, including six members who voted by proxy, according to the committee.