Senate Republicans are holding up two of President Donald Trump's nominees to show their frustration with the Defense Department's top policy official.
Alex Velez-Green, Trump's pick for deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, and Austin Dahmer, his nominee for assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, have been waiting for confirmation for more than a year, and Federal News Network reported the holdup is related to their boss – Elbridge Colby.
Sources told the outlet that no individual senator has placed a formal hold on either man. Instead, Republicans simply have little interest in confirming them, and that reluctance stems from unhappiness with Colby and the office he runs.
Lawmakers from both parties have complained for months that Colby's policy shop doesn't share information or communicate with Congress, and the complaints have grown louder as the U.S. continues military operations against Iran.
Trump announced both nominations in June 2025, and the pair testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that November. The committee never voted on them, so the White House had to resubmit their names when the new congressional session began in January. They haven't moved since.
To advance, each nominee needs support from a majority of the committee's 27 members. No committee Democrats back them, and there aren't enough Republican votes to make up the difference. As a result, Chairman Roger Wicker (R-AL) has chosen not to schedule votes, according to the two sources.
Wicker's office didn't respond to requests for comment.
It's unclear whether the White House will pull the nominations or how long the standoff could last. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment, and Pentagon officials told the outlet they look forward to working with lawmakers.
In the meantime, both nominees are still working at the Pentagon.
Velez-Green, a former Heritage Foundation policy adviser, serves as Colby's chief of staff. He was also the main architect of the 2026 National Defense Strategy.
Dahmer is performing the duties of a deputy assistant secretary in the policy office. Both previously served as national security advisers to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
A third nominee has also stalled. Matt O'Malley, Trump's pick to be the Pentagon's No. 2 acquisition official, testified in July but hasn't received a committee vote. A source cited an unspecified paperwork issue.
Without Senate-confirmed leaders, Pentagon offices must rely more heavily on less-senior staff, which can slow decision-making.
