The confirmation hearing for controversial Pentagon nominee Anthony Tata was canceled Thursday shortly before it was scheduled to start as it became clear that he may not have the votes to go through the committee.
In a statement, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Said: “There are many Democrats and Republicans who did not know enough about Anthony Tata to consider him for a very important position at the moment.” .
“We did not receive the required documentation on time; some documents, which we normally received before a hearing, did not arrive until yesterday,” he continued. “As I said to the president last night, we are simply out of time with the August recess, so there would be no useful purpose in having an audience right now, and he agreed.”
The announcement came after Sen. Kevin Cramer, RN.D., said he opposed Tata’s nomination for undersecretary of defense for policy, unless the Pentagon changed its position by adding the names of the sailors killed in the USS Frank E. Evans during the Vietnam War at the war memorial in Washington, DC
“If the department does not make significant changes to its policy, I plan to oppose Tata’s nomination,” Cramer said in a statement last week.
With 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats on the committee, Cramer’s position tips the balance against Tata’s advance outside the panel.
Democrats, meanwhile, have opposed Tata for very different reasons. A retired brigadier general, Tata in 2018 called former President Barack Obama a “terrorist leader” on Twitter. He also said that the nuclear deal with Iran arose out of Obama’s “Islamic roots” and that it was an attempt to “help the Iranians and the great Islamic state to crush Israel.”
“We are a bipartisan committee. It’s fair to say that members on both sides of the aisle have raised serious questions about this candidate, “said Senator Jack Reed, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee.” We had a closed session on Tuesday and today’s public hearing has been canceled. . President Inhofe did the right thing here, and it is clear that this nomination will not go anywhere without a full, fair and open hearing. “
The White House continues to support Tata, who has been a pro-Trump commentator on Fox News.
Garrett Haake contributed
