GSA moves closer to a permanent leader

Nine months after she was first nominated to serve as head of the General Services Administration, Martha Johnson's name will finally reach the Senate floor for a vote.

On Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., filed a cloture motion that essentially will break a hold on Johnson's nomination placed by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. Bond was using the hold as leverage to force GSA to move forward with a building project in Kansas City.

A date has not yet been set for a vote to invoke cloture on Johnson's nomination, Reid's office said.

A former chief of staff at GSA during the Clinton administration, Johnson has waited longer than almost any other Obama nominee for a confirmation vote. Once a vote is set, she is expected to be confirmed.

Breaking a Senate hold can be a complicated and slow-moving process. When a senator places a hold, the member usually is sending a signal that unless the majority leader respects his or her demands, they will begin objecting to all routine business. Since the Senate relies on unanimous consent to conduct its operations, holds typically are honored.

Cloture is a motion that brings an end to the debate on a bill or a nomination. It requires 60 votes and can take up to 30 hours of debate; no other legislative matters can be considered until the process is complete. Legislative sources said next week's Senate calendar is not particularly crowded and is well-suited to clear stalled nominations.

"Sen. Reid feels it's important to confirm the president's nominees as quickly as possible in order for him to have a full team in place to address our nation's challenges," said Joel Payne, a spokesman for the majority leader.

Widely respected in the acquisition community, Johnson was nominated for the post on April 3, 2009. She sailed through her June confirmation hearing , receiving unanimous support from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

But since August, Bond has blocked the Senate from voting on Johnson's nomination. The senator wants GSA to close down the federally owned Bannister Complex outside Kansas City, which houses 1,200 federal employees, and to relocate staff to office space downtown as part of a major revitalization project.

The original plan, submitted to Congress in 2008, called for a local developer to build the new office center and lease it back to GSA. Sources said the plan was brokered by Brad Scott, who served as GSA's regional administrator in Kansas City during George W. Bush's administration. Scott was Bond's deputy chief of staff for 12 years.

GSA officials said they plan to transition out of the Bannister complex, but have changed their strategy toward acquiring new space. The agency said it will cost less to keep employees working at the complex until it can build, and then own, new office space downtown.

Reid's decision to move Johnson's nomination was met with quick approval by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"Sen. Lieberman is more than pleased that the Senate leader has moved to break the impasse over Martha Johnson, whose nomination has been blocked for far too long," said committee spokeswoman Leslie Phillips.

"Martha Johnson has significant experience in both the private sector and the federal government. She served previously as GSA's chief of staff, helping to lead that agency at a time of substantial change. Today, the GSA faces even greater challenges and demands than when Ms. Johnson served there more than eight years ago," Collins said.

Bond's office did not respond to several requests for comment.

Since 2007, Johnson has served as vice president of culture at Computer Sciences Corp., a Falls Church, Va., technology firm. She has maintained that position while her nomination crept though the Senate, according to Ashley Murray, a spokeswoman for CSC.

If approved, Johnson would be GSA's first Senate-confirmed administrator since Lurita A. Doan, who resigned in April 2008. Since then, the agency has had four acting administrators, including the current interim chief, Stephen Leeds.

Reid also filed cloture on Thursday on the nomination of M. Patricia Smith to serve as solicitor of the Labor Department, the No. 3 position at the agency.