Back in June, President Obama nominated Dr. Winslow Sargeant to the position of Chief Counsel of the SBA Office of Advocacy. As the MEJ reported at the time, this was also something of a mystery appointment. Traditionally, Advocacy’s Chief Counsel has been appointed from the ranks of the legal profession, which makes sense in the context of Advocacy’s responsibility for enforcing the Regulatory Flexibility Act. That didn’t seem to matter, though; there is no statutory requirement for the Chief Counsel of Advocacy to be an attorney. And, judging from the brevity and cordiality of his confirmation hearing last August, one might have been forgiven in believing that this particular appointment would be a real snoozer.

Sargeant’s nomination was approved by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship back in September by a vote of 13-6, with Ranking Member Olympia Snowe leading most of her follow Republicans on the Committee in opposing Dr. Sargeant due to his lack of legal expertise. Once the nomination was reported out of the Committee and placed on the Senate calendar, it seems that a Senator put a hold on the nomination to keep it from coming to the floor for a vote. According to Committee staff, negotiations to resolve the issues with Dr. Sargeant are ongoing. There is no way of knowing how long this impasse will persist. Meanwile, the SBA Office of Advocacy continues to function under the able direction of Acting Chief Counsel Susan Walthall. An SBA veteran, Ms. Walthall can be expected to ably fill in but, without a Senate-confirmed Chief Counsel, the Office of Advocacy remains something of a rudderless ship.