The growing public opposition to President Trump’s Army secretary nominee has picked up two Democratic members from the first panel that would vote on his confirmation.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, a moderate from Indiana, and liberal firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts both said Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green is the wrong person to be the Army’s top civilian.
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The Senate Armed Services Committee could hold the first confirmation hearings on Green, if his nomination makes it to the Senate.
The Democrats appeared to be ratcheting up pressure after a report that Green could withdraw as controversy balloons over his political views opposing gay marriage, transgender rights and teaching Islam in public schools.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer came out against the nomination on Wednesday, as did House minority whip Steny Hoyer earlier this week.
“Now more than ever, we need our nation’s best and brightest to serve as soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation,” Donnelly said in a statement released Thursday. “I am not confident that Dr. Green is capable of leading today’s diverse Army and maintaining it as the most sophisticated and powerful ground force the world has ever known.”
Green is a physician, CEO of an emergency room staffing company and a former Army special operations flight surgeon. He was part of military task force that captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
But Green’s comments made over the years as a state legislator are now under a microscope and causing outcry among liberal advocacy groups and others. Among the many inflammatory comments, he claimed psychiatrists believe being transgender is a disease, urged Tennessee to reject the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, and said it was unacceptable for schools to teach the tenets of Islam.
Warren said Green has made “hateful and ignorant comments about our fellow Americans” and should be disqualified.
Senate Republicans have not publicly abandoned Green, but they have also done little to back him.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Armed Services Committee chairman, said he too was concerned about Green’s past comments this week but indicated he still expects a committee confirmation hearing.
A group of 11 House Republicans sent a support letter to the Senate this week asking it not to be swayed by the controversy.
But various groups have opposed the nomination since Trump made the announcement in early April.
On Wednesday, 81 members of the progressive Truman National Security Project, many of them military veterans, signed a letter urging the Senate to reject Green. They argued that his political views and opposition to LGBT rights could damage cohesion in Army units.
“As every military leader knows, unit readiness at every level is built on mutual trust, often referred to as unit cohesion. When leaders denigrate service members on the basis of their personal characteristics, it undermines that essential trust,” the group wrote. “As several of you know firsthand, that can be the difference success and failure on the battlefield.”
