Shinseki hearing before inauguration

WASHINGTON , Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A hearing on the nomination of retired U.S. Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki for secretary of veterans affairs will take place before Inauguration Day.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, announced plans Monday to hold hearings on Shinseki's presumptive nomination to become the next veterans affairs secretary on Jan. 14. The hearing, six days before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president, is seen as a move to speed up the confirmation process, Government Executive reported.

Obama's likely nomination of Shinseki has been widely praised, as the former Army chief of staff was publicly rebuked by Bush administration officials during testimony in 2003 in front of the Senate Arms Services Committee.

Shinseki testified that it likely would require several hundred thousand soldiers to stabilize Iraq following the invasion. The troop assessment later was publicly criticized by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Akaka said Monday that holding the hearing on Shinseki before Obama's inauguration is a move so the "Senate can act on his nomination as soon as it is received, potentially the afternoon of Jan. 20," Government Executive reported.