Armed Services panel approves Pentagon nominees

The Senate Armed Services Committee cleared nearly 400 Pentagon nominations on Thursday, including Michael Lumpkin as assistant secretary for special operations and Jo Ann Rooney as undersecretary of the Navy.

{mosads}Jamie Morin, who has been nominated as the Pentagon’s director of cost assessment, and Kenneth Morrison, picked to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, were also approved by the panel.

Now the nominations head to the Senate floor, where they face an uncertain future thanks to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Graham has threatened to hold up all of the president’s nominations until Congress is given access to U.S. personnel who were in Benghazi, Libya, the night of last year’s terrorist attacks.

Graham says the threat to hold all nominees is the only way he and Republicans have leverage to force the White House to divulge information on Benghazi.

Rooney’s nomination is also facing resistance, as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) quickly placed a hold after it cleared the committee Thursday. Gillibrand is unhappy with Rooney’s comments on how commanders decide to prosecute sexual assault cases.

The Armed Services panel also moved 394 military nominations. 

— This story was updated at 5:22 p.m.