Senate confirms State Department nominees

The Senate voted 98-0 Wednesday to confirm Tina Kaidanow to be coordinator for counterterrorism.

With that vote, Kaidanow also received the rank and status of an ambassador-at-large.

{mosads}The Senate also cleared two more of President Obama’s nominees to serve in the Department of State.

Daniel Bennett Smith was confirmed to be an assistant secretary of State on intelligence and research on a 98-0 vote.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Smith was “highly qualified” to be the State Department’s top intelligence official.

And the Senate voted 97-0 to confirm Catherine Novelli to be undersecretary of State on economic growth, energy and the environment as well as U.S. alternate governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a term of five years and U.S. Alternate Governor for the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of five years.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said all of the nominations were “extremely important.”

Reid said the Senate might consider more nominations Wednesday before leaving town ahead of a winter snowstorm.