President Trump’s pick to be Army secretary will finally get a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lifted a hold on Friday.
Mark Esper, a top Raytheon lobbyist, and three other Defense Department nominees are scheduled to testify on Thursday in what will be a key step toward a confirmation vote on the Senate floor. The White House sent Esper’s nomination to the Senate in July.
McCain had been holding Trump’s nominees to force the Pentagon to be more forthcoming with information about military operations around the world but after a classified briefing on a deadly ambush on U.S. troops in Niger by military officials on Thursday, he said he would allow some nominations to proceed.
Hours after his comments, Senate Republicans announced that John Gibson, the nominee for deputy chief management officer, was teed up for an expected floor vote next week.
The Armed Services hearing will also include testimony by Robert Wilkie, the nominee for undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness; Joseph Kernan, the nominee for under secretary of defense for intelligence; and Guy Roberts, the nominee for assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs.
