Democrats Help Trump Trade Nominee Lighthizer Clear Senate Panel
- Robert Lighthizer may get Senate floor vote in about two weeks
- Lighthizer needs waiver for his past work for China, Brazil
Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative nominee, listens during a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on March 14, 2017.
Photographer: Zach Gibson/BloombergThe Senate Finance Committee approved President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the nation’s top trade negotiator in a bipartisan vote after Democrats had slowed the nomination over his past work for China.
The panel Tuesday unanimously approved Robert Lighthizer to become U.S. trade representative and backed a waiver for his lobbying work during the 1990s on behalf of a Chinese company. That work had been a prime sticking point between Republicans and Democrats over the nomination. Lighthizer also needed the exemption for work on behalf of Brazil in 1985 that required him to register as a foreign agent.