Reply #24: Update: Senate Committee to freeze Tomlinson nomination [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Senate Committee to freeze Tomlinson nomination
Posted 8/31/2006 11:20 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee does not plan to act on President Bush's re-nomination of an agency head accused of misusing government money.

A summary of a report by the State Department's inspector general, released Tuesday, said Kenneth Tomlinson misused government funds for two years as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. That's the agency which oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other U.S. government broadcasting abroad.

Tomlinson is accused of overbilling for his time and hiring a friend as a consultant.

On Wednesday, Andy Fisher, a spokesman for the Foreign Relations Committee, said the panel had taken no action on the January 2005 nomination while the investigation was underway "and does not intend to now."
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Tomlinson's term expired in 2004, but he stayed on under board rules which permit him to continue until a replacement is confirmed, Fisher said.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-31-tomlinson-nomination_x.htm