Senate confirms Pentagon’s No. 2 officer

A month after the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s No. 2 officer retired, the Senate approved his replacement.

In a voice vote Thursday night, the Senate confirmed Navy Adm. Christopher Grady to be the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Grady was nominated on Nov. 2 to replace the previous vice chairman, Gen. John Hyten, upon his retirement. But that date was only weeks away from Hyten’s Nov. 20 departure, all but guaranteeing a gap in the role.

Grady was previously the head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command since May 2018. In that role, he ensured that the Navy’s fleet was manned, trained and equipped before being deployed.

He will now take over as the Defense Department’s second highest-ranking officer as the United States must contend with an increasingly aggressive Russia and China, an unstable Middle East following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, and fears over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Earlier this month at his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, Grady said Russia’s military buildup near its border with Ukraine was “a very dangerous and destabilizing situation.”

He also indicated he was in favor of updating the U.S. nuclear arsenal to deter Russia and China.