The Senate Rules and Administration Committee is confirming that it will take up three recent Federal Election Commission nominations, clearing the first major hurdle for the White House-backed plan to put the agency back in business by Memorial Day.

The Rules panel will hold a hearing next Wednesday on the nominations of Democrat Cynthia Bauerly and Republicans Caroline Hunter and Don McGahn.

Under President Bush’s proposal to reconstitute the six-member elections regulator, the three new nominees would be combined with sitting Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub and two holdover picks, Republican Hans von Spakovsky and Democrat Steven Walther.

The commission has been shuttered since Jan. 1.

– Matthew Murray