One of the nominations that the Obama administration wants confirmed in the lame-duck session of Congress is that of Lisa Mensah to become Agriculture undersecretary for rural development.

Obama nominated Mensah, who is the executive director of the Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security, for the USDA post in May. The Senate Agriculture Committee has unanimously approved her nomination by voice vote and urged the Senate to approve her.

The administration is "working hard" to secure confirmation of Mensah, an administration official told The Hagstrom Report late Wednesday.