Historic nomination of first black service chief to move forward after lawmaker lifts secret hold
As the country is gripped by civil unrest over racial injustice and the death of George Floyd, the U.S. Senate has been poised to confirm the first black chief of a military service branch. But the nomination was being quietly delayed by one senator as leverage in a basing decision for the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker.
Sen. Dan Sullivan has lifted a legislative hold he placed on the nomination of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Defense News has learned. The Alaska Republican established the hold shortly after Brown’s confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee in early May, preventing his nomination from moving forward, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
President Donald Trump on March 2 nominated Brown, currently the commander of Pacific Air Forces, to replace Gen. Dave Goldfein as the Air Force’s top general. Brown was one of four nominees SASC reported favorably on May 19, but the only one not to receive Senate floor consideration in the days since.
The weekslong delay for Brown’s historic confirmation vote has flown under the radar amid other controversies surrounding Trump’s involvement of the military as a response to protests and violence around the country — and as the Pentagon wrestles with its own sensitivities to racial issues...
https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2020/06/03/historic-nomination-of-first-black-service-chief-to-move-forward-after-lawmaker-lifts-secret-hold/
