Senate to vote on Huntsman ambassadorship today

The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote today on the nomination of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. as the U.S. ambassador to China.

Huntsman is on the agenda for a committee business meeting along with 19 other ambassador nominees for countries from Japan to Mongolia, Finland, Germany and Sweden.

The meeting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. MDT, and is scheduled to be webcast at foreign.senate.gov.

Huntsman faced virtually no opposition during his confirmation hearing two weeks ago, and is expected to sail through committee. Confirmation by the full Senate is expected to follow quickly, before the Senate adjourns for its summer recess on Friday.

When confirmed, Huntsman would resign as governor and be replaced by Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who has scheduled his inauguration tentatively for Aug. 11.

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Huntsman in a joint appearance with him at the White House on May 16, but the actual nomination was not made until July 6, when the formal paperwork was submitted to the Senate.

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