EPA, Labor Nominees Confirmed

By Mark Memmott

Published July 18, 2013 at 3:07 PM CDT

By 59-40 vote mostly along party lines, the Senate on Thursday afternoon confirmed Gina McCarthy as the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

That followed a 54-46 vote early in the day to confirm Thomas Perez as Labor secretary.

As The Associated Press notes, the Senate "has filled four top Obama administration posts this week. The progress followed a bipartisan deal on Tuesday that freed the nominations for votes and saw Democrats halt efforts to weaken the minority GOP's powers."

Also confirmed this week:

-- Richard Cordray, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

-- Fred Hochberg, to continue leading the Export-Import Bank.

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott