The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on Wednesday to approve Sen. Hillary Clinton's nomination to serve as Secretary of State and pass that nomination to the Senate floor.
The vote was nearly unanimous. Sixteen Senators said they favored the New York Democrat's appointment. One Republican was against it.
That Republican would be Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who registered his opposition through a proxy.
Vitter is quickly shaping up to be one of the biggest thorns in the incoming Obama administration's side. In addition to being the only Republican who had a problem with Clinton, he is leading the opposition to handing over the second $350 billion in TARP money.
Clinton, it should be noted, was not there to hear ranking Republican Richard Lugar tell the committee that Vitter would be voting no on her nomination. She was on the Senate floor, delivering her last speech as a member of that body.
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