Weeks after Republican nuke hawks panned his performance at a nomination hearing, the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted 13-13, along party lines, to advance Colin Kahl’s nomination for the Pentagon’s top policy job.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will now have to make a motion to discharge Kahl’s nomination to bring a vote to the full Senate, then potentially bring in the vice president to break another tie on the floor.
Kahl, who served as the national security adviser to the vice president during the Barack Obama administration, faced scrutiny from one Republican Senator after another in his recent confirmation hearing. Lawmakers took issue with Kahl’s social media posts criticizing the Donald Trump administration, his role in crafting the Iran Nuclear Deal, and his refusal to unconditionally back ongoing nuclear modernization programs at the Department of Energy and the Pentagon.
Following Wednesday’s vote, the 13 GOP members of SASC released a joint statement on their unanimous opposition to Kahl’s appointment for under secretary of defense for policy, with several calling on President Biden to reconsider his nomination.
“The Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are united in their opposition to the nomination of Dr. Colin Kahl to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy – the number-three civilian position across the entire Pentagon. We’ve each had a chance to hear from him – whether one on one, at his nomination hearing or both – and we all agree that he has neither the disposition nor judgment to serve in this critical position at this critical time. This is not a position we take lightly, but we urge our colleagues to reject this nomination when it comes to the floor,” Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the SASC ranking member, said in the statement.
Kahl squeaked by the Committee after securing Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) support. Media reported that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with the Manchin, one of the evenly split Senate’s moderate kingmakers, ahead of the Wednesday’s vote.
