The Senate Armed Services Committee today will consider the nomination of Ashton Carter to be U.S. Defense Secretary, more than two months after current Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced his resignation on Nov. 24. Although Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the committee was ready to hear Carter’s testimony immediately after the 114th Congress started, SASC delayed the hearing for about a month as the nominee recovered from back surgery. Carter served as Deputy Defense Secretary from 2011 to 2013, following a two-year stretch as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. He led the first Nuclear Posture Review in 1994 and served on the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. Carter isn’t expected to face significant opposition from the committee, and McCain has recently voiced confidence in the nominee.
“Dr. Ashton Carter is a highly competent, experienced, hard-working, and committed public servant,” McCain said in a December statement. “Throughout Dr. Carter’s previous tenure at the Pentagon, I have worked closely with him on a number of issues, including defense acquisition reform.” McCain also stated intentions to outline his concerns about current foreign policy with Carter at the hearing. “I hope that Dr. Carter fully understands that – as previous Secretaries of Defense have strongly attested – he will likely have limited influence over the tight circle around the president who apparently control the entire strategic decision-making process. As former Secretaries Bob Gates and Leon Panetta recently suggested, the next Secretary of Defense may also be subject to incessant micro-management by the White House on a level not seen since the Vietnam War. These are serious challenges which will face the next leader of the Department of Defense, piled on top of the myriad challenges confronting American military readiness here at home and our nation’s security across the world.”
