NJ Motor Vehicles chief leaving for federal job, but not one she wanted

TRENTON – The head of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission will be appointed to a Department of Veterans Affairs leadership post, after the U.S. Senate refused to confirm her for the Pentagon job for which she was originally nominated, according to a published report.

Brenda S. “Sue” Fulton had been nominated last year as the assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs.

Her hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee focused extensively on her Twitter posts and other comments attacking Republicans and evangelical Christians, and the nomination never advanced to the Senate floor for a vote.

MORE: MVC chief up for Pentagon job has rough Senate committee hearing

The Military Times, citing Biden administration sources, reports that the White House will withdraw Fulton’s nomination and instead appoint her as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the VA, a position that doesn’t require Senate approval.

Fulton is a 1980 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and was one of the Army’s first female cadets. She was the first openly gay member of the West Point Board of Visitors.

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Fulton’s time at the MVC has been punctuated by the pandemic, which led to statewide agency closures for four months in 2020, followed by frequent, sporadic closures when staffers contracted COVID.

The agency has shifted many more transactions online, but drivers and lawmakers have been frustrated by closures, long waits for appointments and longer drives to agencies that handle the document that a person may need.

Michael Symons is the Statehouse bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com

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