Sen. John McCain, who will likely lead the confirmation process for President Obama’s defense secretary nominee, said Ashton Carter should prepare for “incessant micromanagement” by the White House.
“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,” McCain said in a statement Friday.
McCain hinted that the confirmation process would be tougher on the Obama administration than Carter.
“I look forward to Dr. Carter’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee next year, which will provide a valuable opportunity to fully ventilate all of issues around this administration’s feckless foreign policy, and its grave consequences for the safety and security of our nation,” McCain said.
Carter’s nomination follows the resignation of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who was pushed out after clashing with the White House over management issues, particularly the strategy to deal with the growing threat of Islamic terrorists in the Middle East and the release of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
Hagel’s predecessors, Bill Gates and Leon Panetta, also accused the Obama administration of micromanagement.
President Obama announced Carter’s nomination on Friday, and he is widely expected to breeze through the confirmation process, which will be run by the Senate’s newly minted Republican majority in early 2015.
McCain complimented Carter, a former deputy defense secretary, as “highly competent” and “experienced.”
Democrats also praised Carter, a former Rhodes Scholar with a Ph.D. in physics.
“Dr. Carter understands the threats that confront our country and I believe his experience at the Pentagon will make him an effective leader for our military,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.
