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Vote on Duckworth for VA spot expected Monday

Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth’s nomination to become an assistant secretary for Veterans Affairs is scheduled for a Monday evening vote, now that all of her paperwork is considered in order.

Duckworth, a disabled veteran who lost both legs in a 2004 incident in Iraq, was nominated in February to become VA’s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs. The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held an April 1 hearing on the nomination, but a confirmation vote was delayed because the committee’s ranking Republican member, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, objected — based on paperwork issues and timing, not on her qualifications for the post, where she will work with Congress, the news media, veterans groups and the general public. That delay lasted until now because the Senate left on a two-week recess before Burr’s questions could be resolved.

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee vote is scheduled for Monday evening in a private room just off the Senate floor on the first day of business as senators return to work. The full Senate could approve her nomination right away if there are no objections, leadership aides said.

If confirmed, Duckworth plans to have a swearing-in ceremony in the rehabilitation ward at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center where she recovered from the wounds suffered when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter she was piloting.