McCain expects Defense nominee Carter to be confirmed next week

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is planning for Ash Carter to be confirmed as the new Defense secretary by the end of next week.

“I hope we can get Carter done – hopefully – by Tuesday,” he told reporters on Thursday about the panel vote.

{mosads}If, as expected, the panel approves Carter’s nomination, it would be “expedited” to the full Senate for a vote on either Wednesday or Thursday, McCain added.

Carter sailed through his nearly seven-hour confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

The former Pentagon official was grilled on a range of topics, including the administration’s strategy for defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), providing weapons to Ukraine and the troop drawdown in Afghanistan.

Carter is expected to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

At one point during her questioning on Wednesday, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), a close McCain ally, slipped up and addressed him as “Secretary Carter.”

She quickly corrected herself: “Soon-to-be Secretary.”