USAID nominee visits Capitol Hill

Nov 20 2009

President Barack Obama's nominee to head USAID, Rajiv Shah, "made the rounds" on Capitol Hill Thursday, which included a meeting with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair John Kerry (D-Mass.), Politco's Laura Rozen reports on her foreign policy blog. Rozen also examines this week's markup of the Kerry-Lugar foreign aid reform bill and quotes a Hill staffer saying that there is a "fundamental disagreement between what USAID should look like and what it should do between the administration and Congress."  

Rozen writes: "While the Shah appointment has been viewed with excitement by many in the development and USAID community, some have expressed concern about the larger direction and independence of USAID in the Obama administration, saying signals have been mixed" (11/19).

Foreign Policy's "The Cable" blog also reports on the State Department and some in Congress not seeing "eye to eye on how to move forward with foreign aid reform" and how State's current Quadrennial Diplomacy and Defense Review plays into the equation. "The Cable" writes that "Dec. 1 is being considered for [Shah's] nomination hearing although nothing has been formally scheduled" (11/19).

Politico reports that Shah is "expected to meet with House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) later this week" (11/19).