We look at the backgrounds of the governor's nominees and the qualifications they bring to lead the Island's most important agencies.
After announcing her final designees to head the Island's main agencies, Gov. Jenniffer González is waiting for her nominees, who include prominent figures from the private sector and collaborators from her previous campaign, to be confirmed by the Senate.
According to the governor, who hopes to have nine men and six women make up her constitutional cabinet, this is the first time that the two positions at the front of the line of succession, the secretaries of State and of Justice, are held by women.
In this interactive graphic, we summarize the backgrounds of the 15 secretaries who expect to remain at the head of their respective agencies:
In an interview with Platea, Popular senator Luis Javier Hernández said that the only nominee with a strong chance of being confirmed is the designee for secretary of Education, Eliezer Ramos Parés, who held the position during the previous administration, first in an acting capacity (April 2021 to February 2022) and then as secretary in a permanent role until July 2023.
"(Ramos Parés) has been accessible and has shown that he can make decisions without political pressure. I'll tell you right now that he has my vote. I think he's the only one who can get votes from both the majority and the minority," Hernández said.
On the other hand, after watching his performance at a Senate confirmation hearing, the former mayor of Villalba also said he would not support the confirmation of Waldemar Quiles Pérez to head Recursos Naturales. "This should be the first nomination to be rejected. He doesn't have the capacity to run such a complex agency," he said.
Section 21.5 of the Senate Rules establishes that special sessions may be called by the President or at the request of a majority of the members of that body.
These sessions will be aimed at investigating the operations of Departments, Agencies, Authorities, Administrations, Boards, Commissions, Offices, Dependencies, Services, Bureaus, Companies and Public Corporations of the Government of Puerto Rico. The heads of those government entities may be summoned to appear in person for investigation.
In Quiles Pérez's case, the summons came after he signed an administrative order to close the cases related to illegal construction, according to the DRNA, in La Parguera, in Lajas.
Not all senators will have access to the confirmation hearings for the nominees, who will be evaluated, according to a decision by Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, by the committees corresponding to the agency each nominee seeks to lead. For example, the Comisión de Recursos Naturales will weigh in on Quiles Pérez.
People can send written testimony for or against the designees to senators' email addresses (you can find all the email addresses by clicking on the images here) or directly to Rivera Schatz at trivera@senado.pr.gov. Groups interested in testifying orally at the hearings will be able to request to do so when the Senate makes that announcement.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
