|
William Lamont Eanes |
The Senate Finance Committee will be holding a
hearing on February 4 on the nomination of Andrew Lamont Eanes to become Deputy Commissioner of Social Security. The hearing will not just be on Eanes' nomination. The nominations of a Deputy Secretary of HHS and two Tax Court judges will be on the table. This suggests that the hearing is little more than a formality.
If Eanes is confirmed, he will immediately replace Carolyn Colvin as Acting Commissioner of Social Security. Colvin's term as Deputy Commissioner expired quite some time ago. The Senate never acted on her nomination to become Commissioner. I don't believe he renominated her after the last midterm election. Eanes had been
nominated on July 31, 2014.
- From Cleveland and still roots for the Browns (poor man)
- Goes by Lamont
- About 59 years old
- Has a wife and two grown sons
- He worked for an Ohio state senator and later coordinated his run for mayor of Cleveland
- Has an undergraduate degree from Northern Ohio University and an MBA from Baldwin Wallace University
- Has worked in Kansas City, Baltimore, Hong Kong and Sydney
- Has been chief operating office of two telecommunications companies. In 2012 he and his wife started Agile Government Services, a software consulting business that mostly serves the Department of Defense.
- "Eanes said he heard about the job opening at Social Security's
headquarters in Baltimore and applied with no special connections. 'I
was an Obama enthusiast but not particularly involved.'"
When I posted about Eanes' nomination in 2014 almost all the comments had to do directly or indirectly with Eanes' race. Most commentators simply assumed he is incompetent and got the nomination merely because of his race. That's disgusting. Eanes has held positions of significant responsibility in the past. He lacks Social Security experience. It would be nice if he did but that's usually not the case with high level appointments at Social Security no matter who the President is and regardless of the race of the person being nominated.
I have no idea why this nomination is moving forward at this time but I'd have to guess the Carolyn Colvin, the Acting Commissioner of Social Security, wants to retire now.