The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Tuesday to advance President Trump’s picks to head his Pacific and North America military commands.
The voice vote moves Adm. Philip Davidson, who has been tapped to lead U.S. Pacific Command, and Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the pick for U.S. Northern Command, toward a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor.
If confirmed, the two officers could be put in charge of joint commands that stretch from the Atlantic to the Far East and cover about half of the Earth’s surface.
Davidson is currently the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., and he would replace Adm. Harry Harris, who Trump has chosen to be ambassador to Australia.
O’Shaughnessy is in charge of air forces in the Pacific and he would replace Gen. Lori Robinson at NORTHCOM and take over defense of the homeland from missiles, drug trafficking and other threats.
Both nominees must first get a Senate floor vote before taking on the new roles, and it was unclear when that might happen.
Confirmation votes have been slow during the Trump administration. Republicans have blamed Democrats for using parliamentary procedures to delay the process, and Democrats have pointed to the administration’s slowness in nominating candidates. Yet the process for Davidson and O’Shaughnessy has moved relatively quickly.
