Senate Armed Services Committee advances Colby nomination
Though the final tally was not made public, the vote indicates Colby was able to overcome concerns from some Republican lawmakers
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Elbridge Colby, nominee to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is seen ahead of his confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Armed Services in Washington, DC on March 4, 2025.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted on Tuesday to advance the nomination of Elbridge Colby to be undersecretary of defense for policy to the full Senate.
The committee members’ positions in the final, closed-door vote on Colby’s nomination were unclear, but the move signals that he was able to overcome skepticism about his nomination from some Republican lawmakers concerned about his past isolationist views. One senator said he’d received minimal Democratic support.
Colby was grilled by GOP lawmakers at his confirmation hearing over past comments that the U.S. could contain a nuclear armed Iran and that it should not attack Iran to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — views he walked back during his hearing.
Those responses were satisfactory to address Republicans’ concerns, multiple GOP senators told Jewish Insider in recent weeks.
Having passed the critical committee vote, Colby is now likely on track to be confirmed by the full Senate in the coming weeks.