The Senate voted primarily in line with party policy to approve Elbridge Colby’s nomination to serve as the Pentagon under policy secretary Tuesday afternoon.
Senator vote 54-45 will check Colby and former Senate majority leader of former Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell to vote “no” on the nomination. Colby’s successful confirmation vote comes after the Senate defense Hawks reported that they were mobilizing behind the scenes to Tank Colby’s nomination, citing concerns over his past statements about Iran. (Related: DEM Senators block hundreds of Trump candidates using a tactic once called “power abuse”)
Mark Kelly of Arizona, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island (a top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee) helped Colby nominate, particularly with Senate Republicans.
WASHINGTON, DC – March 4: Elbridge Colby, a candidate for Secretary of Defense for President Donald Trump’s policy, is preparing for his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Worship Committee in the Senate Senate Bureau building in Capitol Hill, DC on March 4, 2025, before the DC Senate Armed Worship Committee. (Photo by Somodevilla/Getty Images)
McConnell, a frequent critic of Trump’s first US foreign policy view, argued that Colby does not pay sufficient attention to the threats of the Middle East and Europe.
“Elbridge Colby’s long public record suggests the complexity of the challenges facing America, the key values of our allies and partners, and the willingness to downplay the urgent need to invest in efforts to maintain America’s superiority,” McConnell said in a statement after the vote. “Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and underestimating the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move.”
“It’s geostrategic self-harm that sparks our enemies and drives wedges to exploit them between America and their allies,” McConnell continued. “Don’t make mistakes. America will never be great again by people who are happy to manage our decline.”
The former Senate Republican leader voted against Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegses and director of National Intelligence Tarsi Gabbard, citing concerns about his views on foreign policy.
✅Confirmed: @elbridgecolby Under the Secretary of Defense. pic.twitter.com/astawmph36
– Quick response 47 (@rapidResponse47) April 8, 2025
Colby Ally Vice President JD Vance introduced the senior defense candidate at a confirmation hearing on March 4th, promoting “incredible integrity and intelligence.”
Colby Pledge During the hearing, as the Pentagon’s third-ranked defense officer, he will implement Trump’s first vision of America: Peace Through Strength.
“I’m committed to implementing him. [Trump’s] Colby told the senator. “We cannot envision peace in the world and protecting American interests. There is a real risk of a massive war, and we cannot afford to lose it. I recognize these reality in our bones.”
Colby has previously suggested that carrying out a military strike in Iran would be a dangerous course the US should take. He has long advocated for US military to prioritize the Indo-Pacific region with a focus on China.
“I think Iran is more formidable and dangerous… Iran has a large, asymmetrical army that poses a threat to US allies,” Colby wrote in X in October 2023.
The senior defense candidate saw nuclear weapon Iran as a “existential threat” to the United States, told Cotton during a confirmation hearing.
Colby will be tasked with briefing Hegses on policy issues, It was cleared Senate Armed Services Committee Committee Panel during a private vote on April 1st.
He served as former Deputy Director for strategy and development of power during the first Trump administration. Colby is a co-led effort to draft a 2018 National Defense Strategy that focuses long-term military strategy on threats raised by China in the Indo-Pacific region.
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