Week ahead: Trump under pressure to fill Pentagon posts

[nitpicker]

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/332143-week-ahead-trump-under-pressure-to-fill-pentagon-posts

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.
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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.
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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
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