Hillary to testify for nomination hearing

Former first lady Hillary Clinton would testify today before the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee for nomination hearing for the powerful post of Secretary of State in the incoming Obama administration.

At the hearing, Clinton is likely to be quizzed on the current crisis in the Middle East and the tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack, as the Senators ask her several crucial questions on foreign affairs.

If confirmed, she would become the maiden former First Lady to occupy the position and would be responsible for shaping the foreign policy of the US for the next four years.

She would replace Condoleezza Rice in the outgoing Bush Administration. The nomination hearing by the 21-member Senate Foreign Relations Committee would be chaired by Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic Party presidential candidate who lost to George W Bush in 2004.

Kerry is the incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while the Vice President-elect Joseph Biden, the outgoing chairman, is currently on his trip to Southwest Asia.

Biden, who was also elected to the Senate for seventh consecutive time from Delaware last November, is yet to resign his seat.

President-elect Barack Obama, who was also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has resigned after winning the November 4 presidential elections.

Though Clinton is expected to be confirmed and has already started assembling her team at the State Department, media reports said the New York Senator, who lost to Obama during the primary battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, is taking nothing to chances.

In the run up to the hearing, Clinton has had one-on-one meetings with some of the key members of the Committee, including the ranking Republican, Richard Lugar, besides contacting every member by phone.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has scheduled a vote Thursday on Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State.

The same day, it would hold another confirmation hearing for Susan Rice, who has been nominated as the US Ambassador to the UN by President-elect Barack Obama.

Confirmation hearings dominate the Hill today as respective Senate committees consider the nominations of Peter R Orszag to head the Office of Management and Budget, Arne Duncan to be secretary of Education, Shaun Donovan to lead Housing and Urban Development and Steven Chu to be secretary of Energy