Huntsman confirmation delayed at least 1 week

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s expected confirmation as the U.S. ambassador to China will have to wait at least a week.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations did not vote on Huntsman's appointment during its Tuesday business meeting, despite almost everyone from committee members to Huntsman staffers expecting it. A staffer with the committee simply said Huntsman was not on the agenda and would probably be voted on next week.

The committee does not have another business meeting scheduled this week, although it is holding hearings for other nominees. Two business meetings, which is where votes actually happen, are scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Once the committee confirms Huntsman, he still has to be approved by the full Senate. While there are not any hurdles expected at either the committee or Senate level, there is a time crunch since Congress will begin its annual recess on Aug. 7.

Should Huntsman be delayed past next week, his confirmation would probably not happen until after Labor Day. Because Huntsman has said he would not resign until he is confirmed, that delay also would postpone the inauguration of Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert.

In a hearing last week before the Senate committee, Huntsman faced very few questions from committee members. None of the committee members seemed to have issues with Huntsman's appointment to the ambassadorship, and it is widely expected that he will be easily confirmed once a vote actually happens.

While the committee did not vote on Huntsman, it did vote on 16 other nominees. The vote took only a few minutes, since any questions and discussion about nominees typically happen during the hearings, not the business meetings.

In fact, since Huntsman was first announced by President Barack Obama as his choice for the China ambassadorship, there has been almost zero criticism about the choice. Huntsman speaks Mandarin and has previously served as the ambassador to Singapore.

He also was hailed by Obama earlier this week, during a Monday meeting with high-ranking Chinese officials. In opening remarks, Obama said that the selection of the Republican Huntsman proves that there is support on both sides of the aisle for "positive and productive" relations with China.

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com, jloftin@desnews.com