The Senate has confirmed former United Mine Workers union official Joseph Main to head the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The chamber confirmed Main by unanimous consent on Wednesday evening to run the agency responsible for overseeing the health and safety of the nation's 392,000 miners.
Main spent 22 years heading the United Mine Workers' Occupational Health and Safety Department before retiring. His nomination had been praised by union activists, but greeted with some trepidation by coal companies.
Main was a strong critic of the previous head of MSHA, Richard Stickler.