Biden nominees for key adviser-oversight roles await Senate confirmation

Three nominees for key government positions involving oversight of retail investment advisers and brokers — one at the Department of Labor and two at the Securities and Exchange Commission — are now before the full Senate and appear to be headed for approval — eventually.

The road to confirmation has been a long one for Lisa Gomez, who was tapped last July by President Biden to serve as DOL assistant secretary and head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration. Gomez was dealt a setback Wednesday when the Senate rejected her nomination, 51-49.

The initial 50-50 tally was unexpected because Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who had supported Gomez's nomination when it was approved earlier this year by the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, voted against her Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer switched his vote to “no” so that he can bring the nomination up for another vote.

The nomination will be reconsidered soon by the full Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris in attendance in order to break the tie, said a senior Democratic Senate aide.

Gomez was nominated last July and approved by the Senate HELP Committee in the fall. But she wasn't confirmed by the Senate before the end of December and had to be renominated earlier this year.

It’s unclear exactly when the next Senate vote on her nomination will be scheduled. As EBSA chief, Gomez will direct rulemakings that affect advisers, including a proposal to expand the definition of who is a fiduciary to retirement accounts.

Two candidates for the Securities and Exchange Commission breezed through the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday. The panel approved by a unanimous voice vote Jaime Lizárraga, who was nominated to fill the seat of departing Democratic Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, and Mark Uyeda, who was nominated to fill the seat that was vacated by former Republican Commissioner Elad Roisman.

It’s not clear when the full Senate will vote on the SEC nominees.

If they are confirmed, Lizárraga and Uyeda would return to the SEC to its full five-person membership. But they are unlikely to change the trajectory of commission votes.

The Democratic-majority panel under Chairman Gary Gensler has followed party lines to advance many rule proposals. Those votes are likely to be 3-2, with a five-member commission, as opposed to 3-1, when the only Republican commissioner was Hester Peirce.

Lizárraga and Uyeda continue a trend of SEC members coming to the commission from Congress. Lizárraga currently serves as a senior adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Uyeda, a career SEC attorney, has been on detail to the Senate Banking Committee working on the Republican side of the panel.

“As he noted in his written testimony, Mr. Lizárraga will ‘approach the SEC’s vital mission through the eyes of working families,’” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said before Wednesday’s voice vote.

The highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, has had personal experience with Uyeda.

“Having personally worked with Mr. Uyeda during his time detailed to the Banking Committee, I know firsthand that he is exceptionally hard working, smart, knowledgeable and fair,” Toomey said before Wednesday’s vote.