“In what’s seen as one of the few remaining steps before he could come up for a Senate confirmation vote, USAID chief nominee Rajiv Shah is due to meet with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)” on Thursday, Politico’s Laura Rozen reports on her blog. “Shah would be wise not to expect a simple meet and greet,” Rozen writes. “Coburn – like Shah, a physician – and one of the most fiscally conservative members of Congress, proudly highlights on his Senate website a 2006 medical journal article describing him as the ‘host of several of the key hearings exploring USAID’s regrettable failings.'”

Rozen points out that “Shah has won positive reviews from most members he has met with, including from another midwestern conservative and like Coburn, fellow member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO). ‘I look forward to working with Mr. Shah and exchanging ideas on how agricultural development … can play a critical role in improving lives and advancing security …,'” Bond said in a statement (12/16).