A US Senate committee has abruptly postponed a vote to confirm President Barack Obama's labour secretary nominee following a news report that her husband may have tax problems.
A joint statement from the Senate Labor Committee's Democratic chairman and its top Republican made no mention of the report in the USA Todaynewspaper.
But they said the indefinite delay was to "allow members additional time to review documentation submitted in support" of the nominee, Democratic Representative Hilda Solis of California.
USA Todayreported that Ms Solis' husband paid about $6,400 yesterday to settle tax that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business.
This week has already seen two of Mr Obama's high profile nominees withdraw from consideration due to tax issues - Tom Daschle, who Mr Obama had picked to head the Department of Health and Human Services, and Nancy Killefer, Mr Obama's choice to oversee budget and spending reform.
Timothy Geithner survived questions about his late payment of taxes to be confirmed by a divided Democratic-led Senate as treasury secretary.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he did not believe there were any major problems with Ms Solis.
"We reviewed her tax returns and her tax returns are in order," Mr Gibbs said. "She's not a partner in that business, so we're not going to penalise her for her husband's business mistakes."
In their joint statement, committee chairman Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, and the panel's top Republican, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, indicated Ms Solis might survive the vote.
"Members on both sides of the aisle remain committed to giving her nomination the fair and thorough consideration that she deserves," they wrote. "We will continue to work together to move this nomination forward as soon as possible."
Reuters