Senate

Senate approves international bank official

by Jordain Carney - 06/15/15 7:39 PM ET

The Senate on Monday approved a new member to the U.S. team at the World Bank.

Senators voted 62-24 to approve Matthew McGuire’s nomination to be the U.S. executive director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

{mosads}The IBRD is one of the five institutions that make up the World Bank Group, an international organization responsible for providing financial services to countries around the world.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said ahead of the vote that with his previous experience in finance and leadership roles, McGuire is “distinctly qualified for this position” adding that he is “confident that he will serve with distinction.”

{mosads}Senators also confirmed Gentry Smith’s nomination to be director of the Office of Foreign Missions, which will give him the rank of ambassador, by voice vote.

In his new role, Smith will be responsible for helping to regulate foreign missions within the United States and improving conditions for U.S. personnel abroad.

Cardin called him “a proven leader with extensive management experience and skills, and I am confident that he will be an excellent director.”

The Maryland Democrat also used the debate time ahead of the votes to push for the Foreign Relations Committee to get more nominations to the Senate floor.

“We need to pay more attention to getting the president’s nominees to the floor with recommendations from our committee,” said Cardin, the committee’s top Democrat. “I understand that we have had an extremely busy schedule within the Senate Foreign Relations Committee… and I know we’re going to use our best efforts to get these nominations moving forward.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the committee, said that he has “no desire to hold up especially foreign service officers that have committed their life towards foreign service.”

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and David Vitter (R-La.) didn’t vote on Monday’s nomination.