Mitch McConnell Joins With Democrats To Oppose Senior ‘America First’ Defense Nominee

The Senate voted largely along party lines to approve Elbridge Colby’s nomination to serve as the Pentagon’s under secretary for policy Tuesday afternoon.

Senators voted 54 to 45 to confirm Colby with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the lone Republican to vote “no” on the nomination. Colby’s successful confirmation vote comes after reporting that Senate defense hawks were mobilizing behind the scenes to tank Colby’s nomination, citing concerns over his past statements on Iran. Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Jack Reed of Rhode Island — the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee — notably joined with Senate Republicans to support Colby’s nomination.

McConnell, a frequent critic of Trump’s America First foreign policy views, argued that Colby would fail to pay sufficient attention to threats in the Middle East and Europe.

“Elbridge Colby’s long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America, the critical value of our allies and partners and the urgent need to invest in hard power to preserve American primacy,” McConnell said in a statement following the vote. “Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move.”

“It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit,” McConnell continued. “Make no mistake: America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline.”

The former Senate Republican leader also voted against Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard citing concerns over their foreign policy views.