This story has been updated with a statement from the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley.

President Trump has nominated Eric Ueland, who grew up in Northeast Portland, for the third-ranking position at the State Department.

Ueland, 52, is already one of the most powerful former Oregonians working on Capitol Hill. If confirmed by the Senate, he will become the under secretary of state for management, overseeing the budget and day-to-day operations of the entire international relations agency.

Prior to his nomination, Ueland was the Republican staff director for the Senate Budget Committee and a member of the Trump transition team. As chief of staff to then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Ueland shaped the impeachment trial of President Clinton and built a reputation as having an encyclopedic knowledge of the Senate's esoteric rules.

If confirmed as under secretary, Ueland will serve as a top adviser to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and John Sullivan, the deputy secretary of state. Ueland would oversee use of the State Department budget, manage all department properties and personnel and oversee all day-to-day operations at the agency.

He would be directly responsible for 16 bureaus and offices, including diplomatic affairs and consular security.

Ueland was first nominated for the post in June 2017 and underwent a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He had not been confirmed by the full Senate by the end of the year and Trump renominated him Monday.

Sara Hottman, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, who is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Ueland has not been confirmed because committee members question his abilities.

"I'm told that the committee seems to have serious doubts about Eric Ueland's ability to achieve the tasks that the country needs in an Under Secretary of State for Management," Hottman said.

Ueland was born and raised in Portland, graduated from Central Catholic High School and got his undergraduate degree from the University of San Francisco. His father and at least one of his siblings still live in Northeast Portland.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman