Senate panel advances Branstad for China ambassador post

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to China.

The governor hasn't had opposition to his nomination since President Donald Trump tapped him for the job in December. Last week, he won bipartisan praise at his May 2 hearing before the panel.

After the committee's action, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted: 'The vote indicates easy approval on floor. On to China to do good work for USA.”

Branstad said he was pleased and encouraged by Tuesday's voice vote of the committee and was hopeful he would get a similar reception when his confirmation comes before the full Senate, possibly next week.

The governor said he did not watch the committee proceedings because he and his staff are working to finalize action on about three dozen remaining bills the Legislature sent him, including the proposed fiscal 2018 state budget he is reviewing line by line. He hopes to wrap up all the bills this week.

'The staff was able to bring the good news once the voice vote was done and it wasn't a big deal,” he told reporters. 'I'm very hopeful. I thought the hearing went very well and obviously the vote today is an encouraging sign. It's a big responsibility; I take it very seriously and I know I have a lot to learn.”

Once confirmed, Branstad said he expects to resign as governor 'in a matter of days” so Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds can be sworn in.

Branstad said he and his wife will need to go through a U.S. State Department orientation for new ambassadors and their spouses, and he expects to arrive in China sometime in June.

Rod Boshart of The Gazette and Ed Tibbetts of the Quad City Times contributed to this report.