By BOB BREWIN, Government Executive

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee plans to hold a hearing on the presumptive nomination of former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki for VA secretary. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the committee, says he will hold the hearing on Jan. 14, 2009, six days before Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th president.

Akaka said he decided to hold the hearing on Shinseki, a Hawaii native, before Inauguration Day, so the Senate can act on his nomination as soon as it is received, potentially the afternoon of Jan. 20. This may just set a new speed record for confirmations, which tend to move through the Senate at a glacial pace.

Akaka met with Shinseki on Dec. 10 and told him he considered mental health care a priority. "VA needs more doctors trained to treat invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder," Akaka said. 

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://lostintransition.nationaljournal.com/2008/12/akaka-shinseki-appointment-hearing.php