TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback’s appointment of a veteran Kansas Highway Patrol officer as the agency’s superintendent has been endorsed by a state Senate committee.

The Federal and State Affairs Committee voted unanimously Monday to recommend the confirmation of Maj. Mark Bruce as the patrol’s leader. The action sends Bruce’s appointment to the full Senate.

Bruce has served 25 years with the patrol and was named to its top job in January after Superintendent Ernest Garcia retired.

Meanwhile, another key Brownback appointee faces a confirmation hearing Tuesday.

The Public Health and Welfare Committee plans to consider Susan Mosier’s appointment as secretary of the Department of Health and Environment.

She’s held the job since former Secretary Robert Moser’s resignation in November and previously ran KDHE’s Division of Health Care Finance.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Senate committees are planning to hold confirmation hearings this week for two of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s major appointees.

The Federal and State Affairs Committee was meeting Monday to consider the appointment of Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent Mark Bruce.

Bruce is a 25-year patrol veteran elevated by Brownback to its top job in January after Superintendent Ernest Garcia retired.

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee scheduled a hearing Tuesday for Susan Mosier, who has been serving as secretary of the Department of Health and Environment since the resignation of then-Secretary Robert Moser at the end of November.

She ran KDHE’s Division of Health Care Finance before being named secretary.

Both Mosier and Bruce are expected to be confirmed by the full, GOP-dominated Senate.