President Obama’s pick to lead the Department of Defense appeared before the Senate Armed Services committee Wednesday morning to answer questions about threats facing the country in the Middle East as well as abroad.
Ashton Carter, Obama’s nominee to replace Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense, told Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that he understands the current plan to stop the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and added that the group is a growing threat to the United States.
McCain also questioned Carter on Ukraine and troop reductions overseas. Carter stopped short of giving a definitive answer on when he’d support withdrawing troops from Iraq, adding that the plan to pull troops out of the country by a certain calendar date is only a plan and that if things needed to change, he would recommend changes.
