Anthony Foxx faces the first step in his confirmation process next week.

Anthony Foxx faces the first step in his confirmation process next week.

President Obama’s pick to head up the U.S. Transportation Department will go before a Senate committee next week for a confirmation hearing.

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx is set to appear before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on May 23 at 2:30 p.m., Eastern Time, according to Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Foxx needs the committee’s endorsement in order to receive a positive vote from the Democratically controlled Senate. That vote isn’t likely to happen until next month.

In April Foxx was nominated by the President to succeed outgoing DOT Secretary Ray LaHood.

The American Trucking Associations reacted positively to the announcement of the nomination. “As mayor of a large city, Mayor Foxx dealt with very similar challenges with regard to transportation issues that I did when I was governor – chiefly responding to the demands of constituents and developing a multimodal transportation network," said President and CEO Bill Graves, former Republican governor of Kansas.

Also giving Foxx the nod has been House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa, along with the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association and others. In contrast,  Foxx’s nomination was blasted by the Wall Street Journal newspaper.

Foxx was elected mayor in 2009. Since then he has pushed to expand public transit, helped develop a new inland port and worked on a new runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

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