Senate confirms SECNAV, AT&L nominations

The full Senate has confirmed the nominations of Richard Spencer to become Navy secretary and Ellen Lord to be the Pentagon's acquisition chief, along with six other senior civilian Defense Department officials.

The Senate also approved the nominations of former Armed Services Committee staffers Matt Donovan as Air Force under secretary and Lucian Niemeyer as assistant defense secretary for energy, installations and environment.

Additionally, senators approved the nominations of Ryan McCarthy to be Army under secretary, Elaine McCusker to be a principal deputy under secretary of defense in the comptroller’s office, Robert Daigle to be director of the Pentagon’s cost assessment and program evaluation office and Robert Hood to be assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) applauded the confirmations in a statement issued late Tuesday evening.

“The Senate has been paralyzed by politics and partisanship, and it is unfortunate that it took so long to approve these qualified nominees for critical positions,” he said, adding: “I hope the White House will expeditiously send the Senate nominations for the many positions that remain unfilled at the Department of Defense. At a time when the threats to our country continue to grow, neither the White House nor the Senate can afford to delay any further in giving Secretary Mattis the leadership team he needs to defend our national security.”