Former state Sen. Ryan McKenna has won Senate confirmation as director of Missouri's labor department.
Senators approved McKenna's appointment Thursday without any discussion.
McKenna resigned from the Senate in December after Gov. Jay Nixon appointed him as head of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The Democrat from Jefferson County began the new job last month but needed Senate confirmation to remain in the post.
Republican state House member Dennis Fowler was appointed to the state parole board on the same day as McKenna. But senators have taken no action on his nomination.
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey said Thursday that Fowler doesn't have enough support. Some Republican senators are upset that Fowler voted to sustain Nixon's veto of an income tax cut last year.
