President Bush’s choice to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, is set to get swift Senate confirmation as early as Wednesday after a dispute over drug importation legislation was resolved.

North Dakota Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan had said on Tuesday he was considering stalling Leavitt’s approval until he got a commitment from the Republican Senate leadership on his bipartisan bill to allow cheaper drugs to be imported from Canada.

While Dorgan did not secure a promise for a full Senate vote, he did get a commitment for a Senate committee hearing within 90 days and he released a statement saying he would not delay the Leavitt confirmation.

A Senate leadership aide said the Leavitt vote would probably take place on Wednesday.

The Senate Finance Committee earlier on Tuesday backed the nomination of Leavitt, who is the departing Environmental Protection Agency chief and a former Utah governor.

Dorgan said he respected Leavitt and would vote to confirm him, and other Democrats said they knew of no other obstacle to his confirmation.

Dorgan, who last year held up the confirmation of Medicare chief Mark McClellan, is frustrated the Senate has not held a vote on his popular bipartisan proposal to ease imports of U.S.-approved medications from Canada or other countries. Drugs in Canada are much cheaper than in the United States.