Rules Committee Approves Three Nominees for Government House Cabinet Posts

Three of Gov. Albert Bryan’s picks to fill cabinet posts appeared before the Senate Committee on Rules and the Judiciary Thursday. All three won approval votes, but not all were unanimous.

Presentation of opening statements and the time taken for each committee member to question the three nominees took about five hours. All nominations are being forwarded to the full Senate for final consideration.

Acting Commissioners Harriette Nathalie Hodge at Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Louis Petersen at Agriculture, and Kevin McCurdy at Finance had been on the job for months since the governor nominated them to fill posts vacated by their predecessors. Each described the state of their departments and the performance of their agency teams. They also described the accomplishments each agency made during the time they served in the top spot.

Hodge made her appearance first, having been on the job for 90 days. Bryan nominated her July 31 after appointing former DLCA Commissioner Richard Evangelista as Government House legal counsel. “Should I be favorably confirmed, I will work side by side with the administration and the internal administration,” she said.