Pete Hegseth’s pick for Army chief of staff is being blocked by Republican senators, a new report alleges.
Hegseth wants 59-year-old Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who has been acting Army chief of staff, to permanently replace retired Gen. Randy George. In April, Hegseth fired George after the general reportedly refused to remove two Black and two female officers from a list of service members set to be promoted to one-star generals.
However, Hegseth has not formally nominated LaNeve for the position because he does not have the votes needed to clear the Senate Armed Services Committee, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Hegseth’s issues began in May, when chairman Roger Wicker, 75, made clear that LaNeve didn’t have the votes. To advance to a floor vote, LaNeve would need support from all Republicans on the committee, which the GOP controls, 14-13.
The Journal reports that Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, 56, and other GOP senators are taking issue with LaNeve’s qualifications, or lack thereof.
LaNeve, whom Donald Trump once described affectionately as out of “central casting,” has been a four-star general for six months—a point of criticism from some lawmakers, since most generals are at that rank for three times as long before becoming chief of staff.
Anonymous U.S. officials told the paper that that is one reason Ernst opposes LaNeve’s nomination.
The Defense Department and Hegseth “stand behind GEN LaNeve’s leadership as Acting Chief of Staff of the Army,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast in a statement. “The Department will continue to work with the White House and the Senate to nominate and ultimately confirm President Trump’s pick to lead the United States Army.”
A spokesperson for Ernst didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Journal. Wicker and LaNeve declined to comment through a spokesperson.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Ernst and Wicker for comment.
LaNeve’s selection to lead the Army is partly due to how optics-obsessed Trump loved LaNeve’s video call to him during an Inaugural Ball last January, according to the Journal.
“Welcome back, Mr. President,” LaNeve said, besides several other soldiers in the Eighth Army in South Korea. “Sir, we’d be privileged to host you here in Korea soon, so you can see firsthand the valor of our soldiers here...”
Trump, after asking about military affairs on the Korean peninsula and “tough cookie” Kim Jong-un, exclaimed, “Is this man central casting, or what?”
