Senate confirms numerous nominations

The Senate confirmed six ambassadors, eight judges and three executive branch nominations on Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Secretary of State John Kerry has called on the Senate to clear all pending nominations for his agency. Reid said there were nearly 60 nominees waiting on the executive calendar.

{mosads}With Republicans taking control of the upper chamber next year, Democrats are more motivated than ever to clear as many of Obama’s executive and judicial nominations as possible before the end of the year.

A list of the ambassadors confirmed by voice-vote on Thursday follows:

– James Pettit to be U.S. ambassador to Moldova

– Pamela Spratlen to be U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan

– George Krol to be U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan

– Luis Moreno to be U.S. ambassador to Jamaica

– Donald Lu to be U.S. ambassador to Albania

– Brent Hartley to be U.S. ambassador to Slovenia

The Senate also confirmed three judges to the U.S. Tax Court by voice-vote — Tamara Ashford, L. Paige Marvel and Cary Pugh. And Ramin Toloui was confirmed to be a Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury and well as Lisa Afua Serwah Mensah to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development and Robert Speer to be an Assistant Secretary of the Army.

And the Senate voted to confirm five judicial nominations: 

– Pamela Pepper to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

– Brenda Sannes to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of New York

– Madeline Cox Arleo to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey

– Wendy Beetlestone to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

– Victor Bolden to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Connecticut