SECNAV nominee to get hearing

President Trump's nominee for Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer will undergo an initial Senate hearing July 11, according to a committee aide. The Senate Armed Services Committee will consider Spencer, a financier and former Marine aviator, to be the service's top civilian in a first step toward confirming a key unfilled position of the administration. DON has been led by acting SECNAV Sean Stackley, an Obama holdover, as it works on an annual budget. Spencer's hearing was originally scheduled for June, but was postponed due to the Senate’s trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. The SASC must approve the SECNAV nomination before it can move to the full Senate for a final vote. On July 12, the SASC will hold a hearing to consider four more nominees: David J. Trachtenberg for principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy; Owen O. West for assistant SECDEF secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict; Ryan D. McCarthy for undersecretary of the Army.; and Charles D. Stimson for general counsel of the Navy. The hearings also highlight the lack of a Secretary of the Army nominee. (Source: Washington Examiner 07/06/17)