The Senate voted on Wednesday night to approve Air Force General Charles “CQ” Brown, President Joe Biden’s pick to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Brown, who has previously been criticized for his comments on mandating diversity throughout the military, was approved by the Senate by a vote of 83-11. The vote followed a months-long standoff between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
Tuberville had blocked mass approval votes on Department of Defense nominees over the Pentagon’s policy of paying for travel for women in the military to get abortions. Schumer moved to vote on Brown’s nomination individually, a move which was only opposed by eight Republicans.
“In the end, the Senate will overwhelmingly vote to overcome Senator Tuberville’s blockade of these three nominees, … and the abortion policy that Senator Tuberville abhors will remain in place,” Schumer said. “But the harm he is doing to the military and their families remains and, unfortunately, continues for hundreds of others.”
On Thursday, the Senate is expected to vote on Biden’s nominees to lead both the Army and the Marines.
The Republicans who voted against moving Brown’s nomination forward for a final vote were: Sen. Mike Braun (Indiana), Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Sen. Josh Hawley (Missouri), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Roger Marshall (Kansas), Sen. Eric Schmitt (Missouri), Sen. Tuberville (Alabama), and Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio).
Citizens for Renewing America, a conservative policy group, said it was grateful to the Republicans who voted against moving Brown’s nomination forward.
“CQ Brown not only has serious command and performance failures, he’s actively pushing race and sex quotas in the military, which is a blatant violation of the 14th Amendment. We hope more members join these patriots in the final vote,” group president and former Trump official Russ Vought said.
After the nomination was moved forward, three additional Republicans joined in the final vote against Brown. Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), Sen. Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), and Marco Rubio (Florida) all voted against confirming Brown.
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Brown has faced skepticism from conservative groups who have pointed to previous comments and statements about hiring “for diversity” and calling the military a “white boys club,” suggesting that he would support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the military.
“You can’t let it just be happenstance that brings in the diversity whether it be race, gender, ethnic background, sexual orientation, socio-economic background. You really have to spend some time thinking about it because you may miss an opportunity looking at the slate of candidates and then asking some hard questions,” Brown said previously. “As we’re looking at some key positions, who are diverse candidates and are we making sure we are grooming them so they have the opportunity?”