Senate Accepts Obama's Pick to Run Commerce Department
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Senate has approved President Barack Obama's nomination of former utility executive John Bryson to head the Commerce Department, easily overcoming conservatives' objections that his pro-environmental views made him unsuited for the job.
The chamber's 74-26 vote came five months after Obama chose the former head of Edison International, the holding company that owns Southern California Edison, to head the agency.
Bryson, 68, was a co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council and has supported cap-and-trade legislation, which would set an overall cap on pollution and allow companies to buy and sell the right to produce emissions. Many conservatives oppose the proposal, saying it adds costs to businesses.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bryson was supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, which applauded his business background.