Senate advances nomination for Under Secretary of Defense

The Senate advanced President Obama’s nominee to serve as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.

The Senate voted 91-8 to end debate on the nomination of Alan Estevez — 60 votes were needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. After eight hours of debate, the Senate will proceed to a vote on final confirmation, unless a deal is reached to hold the vote sooner.

{mosads}Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Estevez’s nomination had been delayed for 402 days.

“Mr. Estevez has specialized in military logistics for more a decade,” Reid said. “And it is unfortunate that Republicans would hold up confirmation of such a crucial defense department nominee solely for unrelated political reasons.”

The Senate has been working all week on executive branch and judicial nominees.

Reid said GOP obstruction has created a “backlog” of Obama nominees and vowed that the Senate would continue to work through some “critical” executive branch nominees this week, including for key posts such as directors of the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.