Ash Carter confirmed as defense secretary
Moving quickly, the Senate on Thursday easily confirmed Ash Carter as President Barack Obamaâs fourth secretary of defense. The vote was 93-5, with five Republicans voting no: Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Roy Blunt of Missouri, John Boozman of Arkansas, and Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both of Idaho. Story Continued Below A former deputy defense secretary and chief Pentagon weapons buyer, Carter was confirmed a little over a week after his confirmation hearing, sailing through the Senate in a speedy process that saw no serious objection to his qualifications to lead the sprawling Defense Department. Heâs expected to be sworn into office on Tuesday. It was a starkly different story from that of outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who faced a bitter confirmation process and was subject to a filibuster before ultimately being confirmed, 58-41. Hagel was attacked over his comments and positions on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons, and the former Nebraska senatorâs past speeches and financial connections were closely scrutinized by his onetime Republican colleagues. Carterâs qualifications and stances, on the other hand, were hardly discussed during his daylong hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, which unanimously approved his nomination Tuesday, 26-0. Indeed, Carter was praised by Republicans, who said his challenge will be at the White House â and whether the National Security Council will continue what Republicans charge has been micromanaging military affairs. âI intend to support Ash Carterâs nomination, but my support is conditioned on this request: The incoming secretary needs to have the courage to speak truth to power â to Congress, yes, but also to his commander in chief,â Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the floor Thursday. At his confirmation hearing, Carter sought to highlight his independence, saying he would be a âstickler for the chain of command.â While he toed the administration line on most issues, like its strategy against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Carter broke with the White House to say heâd back providing arms to Ukraine and would support reviewing the Afghanistan withdrawal timeline. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Carter would be a good manager at the Pentagon but doubted that he would change the White Houseâs tune on the larger national security issues. âIâm confident that he has no influence whatsoever,â McCain said. âNor did his three predecessors.â Other Republicans were more hopeful, saying that if anyone could force the White House to listen to the militaryâs leaders, it was Carter. âIf he canât do it, no one else can,â said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). âI canât think of anyone else who could do it better than him.â Not all Republicans were convinced. Blunt, for instance, faulted Carter for being unable to articulate the Obama administrationâs strategy to defeat ISIL in Iraq and Syria. âWe donât need another secretary of defense that doesnât understand what the plan is and canât communicate that plan to either the Congress or the country or our friends around the world,â Blunt said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. At the Pentagon, defense officials were preparing to complete the transition from the outgoing Hagel to the incoming Carter. Often, newly confirmed secretaries are sworn in behind the scenes to ensure the continuity of leadership â especially since the secretary is one half of the National Command Authority, along with the president in his role as commander in chief. Public, ceremonial arrivals at the Pentagon typically follow later. Some key personnel choices for Carterâs front office are also taking shape. Heâs expected to name Air Force Undersecretary Eric Fanning as his new chief of staff and the Armyâs chief of public affairs, Maj. Gen. Ron Lewis, as his top military assistant, POLITICO has confirmed. When Carter finally arrives at his Pentagon office, his agenda will be packed. He â not Hagel â is set to formally roll out the Pentagonâs fiscal 2016 budget proposal to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees next month. Heâll likely join the debate inside the administration over arming Ukrainian troops. And heâll need to get into step with the daily operations against ISIL. The array of problems has caused some defense observers to proclaim themselves baffled that Carter would even want the job. When Hagelâs resignation was announced in December, MichÃ¨le Flournoy and several other top contenders took themselves out of the running. For conservative critics especially, the rash of crises around the world is evidence of the failure of national security in the Obama era. Thomas Donnelly, a top national security scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, told House members Tuesday the problems facing the Defense Department â and the U.S. â are caused by what he called a failure of commitment, not of hardware. âNobody doubts the United Statesâ ability to â¦ wreak havoc on our adversaries,â he said. âThe question is in our willingness to do so.â