The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday morning advanced several key appointments sought by the Obama Administration, including nominations of two new SEC commissioners and an extension of Chairman Mary Jo White's tenure into 2019.

A voice vote by committee members sent several nominations to the full Senate. Among them were Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar of Virginia, to be SEC members. White, currently serving as chairman through the expiration of predecessor Mary Schapiro's five-year appointment in June 2014, is up for an added, full five-year term. If approved by the full Senate, she would retain her post until June 5, 2019.

All three are expected to have relatively smooth confirmations. White, however, has thus far failed to win over at least one skeptical Democrat.

During a March hearing, as well as prior to the Senate's initial confirmation of While in April, Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) emerged as a critic of her nomination. He questioned her status as a Wall Street insider, specifically time spent as a partner with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton representing clients that included Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, General Electric, and Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta.

“I don't question Mary Jo White's integrity or skill as an attorney,” Brown said at the time. “But I do question Washington's long-held bias towards Wall Street and its inability to find watchdogs outside of the very industry that they are meant to police. Mary Jo White will have plenty of opportunities to prove me wrong. I hope she will.”

On Thursday morning, Brown said he is not yet convinced that he can move past these concerns.

“At the time I said that I hope she proves me wrong,” he said. “Unfortunately, at this point, I view her record as more negative than positive. She has not yet met the burden of proof to change my mind. For that reason, my position has not changed, but I hope that it will.”

Stein, an aide to Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, would replace Elisse Walter as a Democratic appointee on the five-member, bipartisan commission. In addition to serving as staff director of the Congressional Securities, Insurance, and Investment Subcommittee that Reed chaired, she helped draft the Dodd-Frank Act's slate of financial reforms.

Piwowar, who currently serves as chief Republican economist for the Senate Banking Committee, would replace Republican Troy Paredes. He previously served as senior economist on the White House's Council of Economic Advisers for both President Obama and President George W. Bush.  

Although they have remained on the Commission pending their replacements, the terms of Walter and Paredes both expired on June 5.

Among the other nominations advanced by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs:  Melvin Watt to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; Dr. Jason Furman to be a member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; and Richard Metsger, of Oregon, to be a member of the National Credit Union Administration Board.