The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has approved President Obama’s nominee to head the White House procurement policy office.

But Joseph Jordan’s chances for confirmation by the full Senate are iffy in an election year. Dozens of the president’s nominations have been stalled for months because Republicans refused to bring them to a vote.

Some senators have questioned whether Jordan is qualified for the government’s top procurement policy job, given his scant experience in government contracting.

He served for two-and-a-half years as SBA associate administrator for government contracting and business development, and has been an adviser to the Office of Management and Budget since last fall. At his May 9 confirmation hearing before the committee, Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, said several of her colleagues have expressed doubts about his lack of experience.

Most previous administrators had spent many years in federal contracting before their presidential appointments. The most recent one, Dan Gordon, had worked on procurement issues at the Government Accountability Office for two decades. He resigned in December.

Jordan said his background as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. involved working with businesses and state and local governments on procurement and supply chain management, “specifically on things like strategic sourcing and other ways to buy smarter and use data to drive analytics to lower costs and improve value.”

Sen. Mark Begich, D-AK, commented that experience isn’t everything. “I want someone with ambition, someone who is anxious to move forward,” he said.

At the hearing, Jordan outlined his priorities if he is confirmed.

· Buying smarter through the use of strategic sourcing and increased competition for contracts;

· Building the right supplier relationships with high-performing contractors, while weeding out those who don’t perform; and

· Strengthening the acquisition workforce.

At SBA Jordan oversaw all small business contracting programs. “I have a real passion for ensuring that the government improves our utilization of small businesses and allows agencies and taxpayers to benefit from the ‘win-win’ that occurs when they contract with small businesses,” he said.

Under questioning, he dodged the issue of requiring contractors to disclose their political contributions. While saying that politics has no place in acquisition, he declined to say that he would argue against disclosure.

Sen. Collins said she “did not find that reassuring.”

The Obama administration circulated a draft executive order last year that would have required contractors to report their political contributions whenever they submitted a bid. Congress blocked the order, but the administration wants the ban lifted.