McCain: Senate to consider Defense pick next month

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on President Obama’s nominee to lead the Pentagon next month, according to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“January, absolutely,” McCain, the incoming chairman of the powerful committee, told reporters Monday night.

{mosads}He said he did not have exact dates picked out for Ashton Carter’s nomination, but “obviously, we’d want to have it as early as possible.”

Republicans, including McCain, have generally praised the nomination of Carter, who has held a number of Defense Department positions and has been confirmed by the Senate on previous occasions. He would replace Chuck Hagel.

The GOP has indicated it intends to use Carter’s confirmation process as a platform to criticize Obama’s strategy for fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

McCain suggested a tough confirmation process but also signaled he hopes to move the nominee through his committee.

“We’ll grill him, and we’ll put his feet in the fire on a lot of issues, but you need to have a secretary of Defense that’s not a lame duck,” McCain said.

“Look how we perform as lame ducks. Jesus,” he then joked.