The House of Representatives took a second vote for the Acting Director of the Office of Budget Program planning and Development, Sesula McMoore – Tufele on Friday.
The vote was 3 yes, and 16 no.
When the House voted the first time for McMoore-Tufele, the vote was 9 for and 5 against. So there was a big shift to reject her nomination in the second vote, which was made possible by a motion for reconsideration.
McMoore- Tufele had passed confirmation in the Senate. Friday was the last day of the First Regular Session of the 39th Legislature. It remains to be seen whether her nomination will be resubmitted in the next legislative session in July.
The House has not acted on two nominations which were recently submitted for confirmation, Brett Butler as a member of the Board of American Samoa Economic Development Authority and Tuasivi John Marsh to a second term as Commissioner of the Office of Financial Institutions. The Senate has approved Butler, but it appears that Tuasivi’s nomination is stalled after he admitted that he released a confidential document to the Governor’s Office.
