Week ahead: Trump under pressure to fill Pentagon posts

Pressure is building on President Trump to fill key Pentagon posts after his Army secretary nominee withdrew from consideration late Friday, the latest setback in his efforts.

Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green (R) in the past month had come under intense scrutiny for his past remarks on LGBT people, Islam, Hispanics, the Second Amendment and creationism.

Even Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he had concerns with the nomination — and that he had heard similar sentiments from Republicans and Democrats alike.

And a number of groups, including retired military officers, said Green was unfit to serve.

On Friday, Green announced he was withdrawing his nomination.

{mosads}The controversy was a blow to the administration. Green was the second pick, after nominee Vincent Viola dropped out in February over business conflicts.

The president still has 53 Pentagon positions to fill and the slow pace is attracting criticism. So far only Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has made it through the confirmation process.

But in the coming week, lawmakers will work to help fill that gap.

The Senate will hold a confirmation vote on Monday on former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson’s (R) nomination to be Air Force secretary.

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the Air Force veteran a month ago, but a vote in the full chamber was reportedly held up by a Democratic senator, who placed a hold on the nomination due to questions about an Air Force base in the lawmaker’s state.

Wilson was also repeatedly questioned during her March 30 confirmation hearing about work she did for Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sandia National Laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009. Despite this, Wilson is expected to easily win confirmation.

If confirmed by the full chamber, Wilson will be the first administration appointee to join Defense Secretary Mattis at the Pentagon since his confirmation in January, and the only service secretary in place for the military branches.

Following the vote, on Tuesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for the Pentagon comptroller, principal deputy comptroller and director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation.

The nominees, David Norquist, Elaine McCusker and Robert Daigle, respectively, all have significant government experience and have received little criticism since the White House announced their names in March. The three are likely to easily make it through the hearing.

Also in the coming week, the Pentagon is expected to send President Trump their Afghanistan troop plans.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, said in February he had a “shortfall of a few thousand” troops. Currently there are 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, with commanders saying they need 3,000 to 5,000 more.

The House will be out in the coming week, but the Senate will be busy on a number of defense matters.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee in a closed-door briefing. They will discuss the Pentagon’s “worldwide policy and strategy” and discuss the fiscal 2017 supplemental budget request.

The hearing on Tuesday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building room G-50.

A number of other hearings are also on tap this week.

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former director of national intelligence James Clapper will testify on Russian interference in the election before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Hart Senate Office Building, room 216. http://bit.ly/2oGn07K

Adm. Mike Rogers, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room G-50. http://bit.ly/2p8CNNq

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for John Sullivan to be deputy secretary of State at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Dirksen 419. http://bit.ly/2phhppj

A Foreign Relations subcommittee will hold a hearing with outside experts discussing external influences in the western hemisphere at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Dirksen 419. http://bit.ly/2qIBN3N

The Senate Banking Committee’s national security subcommittee will hear from former Treasury officials on secondary sanctions on Chinese entities over North Korea at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Dirksen 538. http://bit.ly/2pOzWwu

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the Veterans Choice Program at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Russell Senate Office Building, room 418. http://bit.ly/2qzpAhM

The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold its annual open “World Wide Threats” hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday at Hart 216. Witnesses will include Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, FBI Director James Comey, NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart. http://bit.ly/2phn2UA

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin will testify at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the VA’s Choice 2.0 program, “What Worked, What Didn’t, and What Needs to Happen Next,” 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Dirksen 124. http://bit.ly/2qB9w1P

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