The Latest Step in the Establishment Campaign to Stop Elbridge Colby

"Senate Republicans in particular have struggled with a loss of relevancy in the Trump vortex, but when it comes to the issue of war and maintaining business as usual, especially military force projection and the war in Ukraine, they suddenly find their collective backbone. Nothing gets the old predator instincts moving like a realist treading on their marked territory."

"Colby, who was confirmed as undersecretary of war for policy by the skin of his teeth with the begrudging help of Senate hawks like Tom Cotton, is now increasingly isolated, as the Senate Armed Services Committee just scrapped a confirmation vote for his deputy, Alexander Velez-Green, and Austin Dahmer, the nominee to be assistant secretary for strategy, plans, and capabilities, on November 19."

"The die has been cast, and the odds are not in Colby's favor. For those who saw him as the antidote to decades of wrong-headed policies that overextended U.S. armed forces and supplies in foreign wars and endless deployments-or as Charlie Kirk once said, "one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD"-this is a real blow."

Elbridge Colby faces coordinated opposition from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill as senators seek to undercut his influence on war policy. Senate Republicans have reasserted themselves on matters of military force projection and support for Ukraine, reacting strongly to realist encroachment. Colby survived a narrow confirmation but now appears increasingly isolated after the Senate Armed Services Committee stalled confirmation votes for Alexander Velez-Green and Austin Dahmer on November 19. Both nominees are labeled realists and allies of Colby. The Pentagon front office is described as chaotic and dysfunctional. Stalled nominations serve as a tool to signal senatorial discontent and weaken Colby's position.

Read at The American Conservative