Senate Confirms USAF Generals, Not Secretary

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Gen. Norton Schwartz to be Air Force chief of staff and Gen. Duncan McNabb, currently USAF vice chief, to replace Schwartz as head of U.S. Transportation Command.

The action came shortly before the chamber adjourned midday Aug. 1 for its monthlong, annual summer break.

The night before, the Senate Armed Services Committee had approved the four-stars’ nominations by overwhelming, although not unanimous, votes. Schwartz was approved by 19-2, while McNabb was 19-1.

Nevertheless, the panel and the whole Senate, however, did not take action on the nomination of Michael Donley to be full Air Force secretary.

Donley, a former SASC staffer and then an official in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), has been acting secretary since Michael Wynne was ousted from the post by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The then-USAF chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, also was pressured to resign by Gates over the mishandling of nuclear weapons and components and other issues.

The SASC votes toward reappointing the generals follows two unusual follow-up, closed-door hearings on classified matters with Schwartz. During the three men’s public confirmation hearing July 22, some SASC members led by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) challenged Schwartz over how forthright he was with Congress when he was the Joint Staff’s director for operations before and during the start of the Iraq war.