Whatever one thinks of Gov. Susana Martinez's Cabinet appointees, the fact is that she deserves -- just as President Barack Obama does -- an up or down vote on any of her choices who require Senate confirmation.

With the session through its halfway point, it's past time to schedule those votes, especially for Public Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera, who has been in her job a year without a hearing. Democratic Sen. Linda Lopez, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, is making sure all Cabinet appointees receive vigorous background checks. That's as it should be. In fact, Lopez's investigation of Gregg Marcantel, a nominee for secretary of the Department of Corrections, uncovered a few questions. Unfortunately, rather than ask Marcantel to clear those up, Lopez issued a news release designed to grab headlines. He had good answers, evidently, since the Senate confirmed him 38-1 (the one being Lopez) on Wednesday.

Also awaiting confirmation in addition to Skandera are secretary nominees Jon Barela, Economic Development; Tom Clifford, Department of Finance and Administration; Arthur Allison, Department of Indian Affairs; and John Bemis, Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources. New Department of Aging and Long-term Services Secretary Retta Ward was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday.

Those jobs are too important to have secretaries in place who have not received a confirming Senate vote, as well as the examination of a hearing. The executive, constitutionally, is charged with making appointments, which Martinez has done. But hearings need to happen as soon after appointment as possible. None of that will take place unless Lopez and her committee take charge and move these appointments along. Especially in Skandera's case -- she presides over a department that spends nearly half of New Mexico's state budget -- it is essential that senators question her. We should not have a "designate" in the crucial position atop the Public Education Department.

These Cabinet nominees need their hearings, and the Senate must decide, up or down, on confirmation. After all, voting on the governor's Cabinet appointees is just another part of a senator's job -- one that should be done sooner, rather than later. We do not want New Mexico to turn into a mirror of gridlocked Washington, D.C., where one party stalls the other's appointments and otherwise blocks business. Let's not watch confirmations deteriorate into attempts to make cheap political points, either. Time's a-wasting!