GOP Sen. Cramer to oppose controversial Pentagon nominee unless he gets concessions

Published July 21, 2020 7:24pm ET



A Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he plans to oppose the nomination of a controversial Trump-backed Pentagon official unless the Defense Department makes “significant changes” to its bureaucratic policies, including ending its opposition to the USS Frank E. Evans Act.

Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, often a reliable Trump ally in the Senate, said he had met on Tuesday with Anthony Tata, a Pentagon adviser nominated by the president for the No. 3 spot at the Defense Department, and warned he would oppose Tata’s nomination unless something is done about the “firm hold” that the bureaucracy has on the Pentagon. That includes the Defense Department’s opposition to adding the names of “the Lost 74” to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Tata himself has come under fire in recent weeks for controversial comments he made online, for which he has since apologized.

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