His confirmation to be undersecretary of defense for policies may be among the most difficult the Senate will undertake. Democratic Senate leaders had to dismiss President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, this month, after a tie in the committee’s vote. But Becerra was finally confirmed with the support of a Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, avoiding the need to lean on Harris to break the tie.
At a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the government “absolutely” supports Kahl and is not considering withdrawing his nomination.
“Colin is qualified, he is experienced and would bring an incredible reserve of perspective to the Department of Defense work,” Psaki told reporters. “Therefore, we await your confirmation.”
Kahl, a former Pentagon policy officer for the Middle East and national security adviser to then Vice President Biden, was easily the most contentious of Biden’s three Pentagon nominees that the Armed Services have considered so far.
A planned committee vote on Kahl was postponed for nearly two weeks, as West Virginia center Democrat Joe Manchin, seen as the decisive vote in the committee and probably in the floor, remained publicly undecided. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin intervened on Kahl’s behalf, urging Manchin to support him.
At a confirmation hearing in early March, Kahl was criticized by Republican senators for his previous tweets criticizing Republican lawmakers and former President Donald Trump’s national security policies.
A similar controversy over rough tweets ended up helping to prevent the nomination of Biden’s candidate to head the White House budget office, Neera Tanden.
Republicans have also parted ways with Kahl in some political areas, including his vocal defense of the 2015 agreement to control Iran’s nuclear program.
Republican Party senators have lined up in opposition to Kahl in the weeks since his confirmation hearing. All 13 Senate Armed Forces Republicans, led by Oklahoma graduate Jim Inhofe, signed a rare joint statement on Wednesday afternoon stating their opposition.
“Each of us had a chance to hear him – whether one by one, at his nomination hearing or both – and we all agree that he has neither the disposition nor the judgment to serve in this critical position at this critical time,” the statement said. “This is not a position that we take lightly, but we urge our colleagues to reject this nomination when it comes to the floor.”
Democrats supported him widely and praised his qualifications for the most important job in politics. Allies of national security and the foreign policy world also came to his defense last week, arguing in a letter to Inhofe and Senate Armed Services President Jack Reed (DR.I.) that Kahl was the target of a ” smear campaign “and that his nomination is being used to reactivate the deal with Iran.
Still, Democrats must maintain the line with a narrow path for confirmation. Some Democratic senators, like Arizona’s moderate Kyrsten Sinema, may still defect in the final vote. Other senators to watch out for include Foreign Affairs President Bob Menendez (DN.J.), who opposed the nuclear deal with Iran.
But Republican support for Kahl is less and less likely. Collins, who broke with his party to support some of Biden’s nominees, announced last week that he would not support Kahl on the Senate floor.
According to the rules governing the 50-50 Senate, Schumer can then make a motion to dispense with the appointment of Kahl with the debate limited to four hours divided equally between the two parties. If the nomination is successfully dismissed to the full Senate, it will be included in the chamber’s executive calendar and may be called to vote.
Reed said the timing of the vote depends on the leadership, which is preparing votes for senior candidates across the federal government, now that all of Biden’s top choices for the Cabinet have been confirmed.
“It will be a function of … what Senator Schumer’s plans are,” Reed told reporters after the committee’s vote.
But the delay in the committee’s vote for Kahl means that the Pentagon will not have a permanent head of policy until mid-April, at the very least. The Senate leaves the nation’s capital after this week for a two-week break.