Joint Chiefs chairman confirmation hearing set for July 11

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold its confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after the July 4 recess, the panel announced Friday.

Gen. Mark Milley will appear before the committee the morning of July 11, according to a schedule released Friday.

If confirmed, Milley would succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford, whose term finishes at the end of September.

Trump first announced in December he would nominate Milley, who has been the Army chief of staff since 2015. His nomination was officially sent to the Senate in April.

The same day in April, the Pentagon announced Trump nominated Gen. John Hyten, head of Strategic Command, to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The current vice chairman, Gen. Paul Selva, finishes his term at the end of July, but Hyten’s confirmation hearing has not yet been announced.

The regular rotation in military leadership comes as the Pentagon is recovering from turmoil in its civilian leadership.

Mark Esper, who had been the Army secretary, took over as acting Defense secretary this week after Patrick Shanahan abruptly resigned and ended his bid to be permanent Defense secretary when reports of years-old domestic violence incidents surfaced.

Shanahan had been acting Defense secretary since January after Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest over Trump’s since-reversed decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria. 

The White House announced last week Trump intends to nominate Esper to be permanent Defense secretary, but has not officially sent the nomination to the Senate yet.