Republican Sen. Christopher Bond of Missouri has placed a hold on the nomination of Martha Johnson to lead the General Services Administration.

Bond "is waiting on information on projects in Kansas City," his spokeswoman Shana Marchio said, though she declined to identify the projects.

Bond has spoken in favor of a new $175 million federal office building in downtown Kansas City, which would house more than 1,200 employees.

The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee in June asked Anthony Costa, GSA's acting commissioner for public buildings, for more analysis of the costs versus keeping the employees where they currently work.

In a letter to Costa, Sens. Bond and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., protested the delay and any attempts to stop the new federal center.

They raised concerns about the suitability of Kansas City's current federal office building, called the Bannister Federal Complex, which was built in 1942. And they asked GSA whether it is feasible for federal employees to remain at Bannister and asked whether asbestos is in the Bannister complex.

Johnson's nomination to lead GSA was expected to be non-controversial, and no senator has publicly questioned her ability to lead GSA. Her nomination was cleared by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in June. Marchio said Bond and Johnson met just before the Senate departed Aug. 7 for its recess.

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