Politics | Tue Mar 8, 2016 6:56pm EST

Senator Shelby starts to break banking nominee logjam

WASHINGTON

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby on Tuesday started to ease the backlog of 16 Obama administration nominees stalled before the panel, scheduling a March 15 confirmation hearing for two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees.

The move follows Shelby's resounding Republican primary victory in Alabama a week ago for a sixth term in the Senate.

The committee will question Lisa Fairfax and Hester Peirce for the SEC positions at the hearing as well as Matthew Jeppson to be director of the U.S. Mint.

But 13 other nominations remain, including for two Federal Reserve Board governors, the U.S. Treasury's top anti-terrorist finance official and a U.S. Export-Import Bank board member.

Without the EXIM board member approved, the trade bank cannot approve large loans or guarantees above $10 million, effectively locking it out of deals for Boeing Co commercial aircraft or major power equipment made by General Electric.

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