Senate to consider three top Pentagon nominees next week

The Senate Armed Services Committee is planning a nomination hearing on May 7 for three Pentagon officials, according to the panel's website.

The nominations include Kenneth Braithwaite to be Navy secretary, James Anderson to be deputy under secretary of defense for policy and Gen. Charles Brown to be Air Force chief of staff.

The committee's website also says the hearing will take place in person instead of the "paper hearings" lawmakers had initially considered at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Senators "will follow guidelines developed in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP), the Senate Sergeant at Arms, and the Senate Rules Committee to protect the health of members, witnesses, staff, and the public. This includes maintaining six-foot social distance spacing in the hearing room," according to the panel's website.

President Trump tapped Braithwaite, currently the top U.S. diplomat in Norway, as the new Navy secretary in November after former Secretary Richard Spencer abruptly resigned over the controversial handling of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes.

James Anderson, if confirmed, will replace David Trachtenberg, who resigned from his position as deputy under secretary of defense for policy in July 2019.

Brown would succeed Gen. David Goldfein, whose four-year term as the Air Force's top officer is set to end in July 2020.