{"id":47572,"date":"2017-11-17T02:48:08","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T02:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/11\/17\/senate-oks-eight-defense-nominees-before-thanksgiving-break\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:44:14","slug":"senate-oks-eight-defense-nominees-before-thanksgiving-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/11\/17\/senate-oks-eight-defense-nominees-before-thanksgiving-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate OKs eight defense nominees before Thanksgiving break"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate confirmed a slate of eight Pentagon nominees in pre-holiday work Thursday, filling a backlog of vacant civilian leadership positions for the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the new appointees had completed confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee in recent weeks, raising few concerns from members. The move came one day after the Senate confirmed Mark Esper as the new Army secretary, bringing their defense confirmation total for the week to nine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s more than half the total of 17 defense nominations previous approved by the Senate this year, a figure that has been a source of frustration for the White House and outside military advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of that delay has been tied to Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump\u2019s policies, but the armed services committee\u2019s own stalling of the White House defense picks has also slowed the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., has repeatedly complained about a lack of communication between the Pentagon and Congress on a host of military operations and strategy issues, and made it clear publicly that he would penalize defense nominees to force fixes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, he indicated he may put a hold on nominees if Army officials didn\u2019t brief lawmakers on issues with recruitment waivers. Service leaders responded by meeting with him later that day. On Thursday, McCain threatened to block the nomination of John Rood, in line to become the next under secretary of defense for policy, over his defense industry ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\t