Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans to speak with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin after Colin Kahl, the Biden administration’s nominee for the top policy job at the Pentagon, came under fire from Republicans for tweets criticizing several Trump administration defense policy decisions.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Austin plans on calling Manchin, a moderate Democrat and a crucial potential swing vote in a 50-50 Senate, as the department is « certainly mindful of the concerns that some members have expressed. » The planned conversation comes after the senator played a key role in sinking the nomination of another one of President Joe Biden’s picks because of comments made on social media. « We value the oversight, the advising consent responsibility of the committee, and the secretary looks forward to continuing to work with the committee and to help address any of the concerns that they might have, » Kirby said during a press briefing on Tuesday. Kirby would not comment on what Austin planned to discuss with Manchin.
