The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is holding up confirmations for key civilian Defense Department nominees over President Obama’s threat to veto defense bills.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters on Tuesday he is not holding up the confirmation of Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, who has been nominated to be the next Marine Corps commandant. His hearing will be scheduled after July 4.
As for the civilian nominees, McCain said their hearings won’t be scheduled “until we find out whether the president’s going to veto or not.”
Obama has threatened to veto any bill that does not solve the issue of sequestration. Both fiscal 2016 authorization and appropriations bills call for adding money to the Pentagon budget by funneling overages into a war funding account, which is not subject to sequestration. The Senate approved the authorization bill last week, but Senate Democrats blocked a vote on the appropriations bill.
