WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Adm. Kevin Lunday to be the Coast Guard’s new commandant after the service clarified its policy on hate symbols, leading to Democrats reversing their hold on the nomination.
Lunday was confirmed by voice vote on Thursday night but, according to CBS News, that came only after the Coast Guard removed references to the display of nooses and swastikas as “potentially divisive” in policy — a change that was seen by some Democrats as downgrading the display of such hate symbols. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., confirmed to the news outlet that she was lifting her hold on Lunday’s nomination after tweaking the policy.
Senators also voted 53-43 to approve a list of dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees, including many outside of the Defense Department. Key Pentagon officials confirmed included:
- Michael Powers, who previously held positions with the Army doing financial management, as the department’s latest comptroller. At his confirmation hearing in July, Powers said he would get department leaders more involved with ongoing efforts to pass an audit by the end of 2028, reported Defense One.
- Amy Henninger, currently the branch chief for advanced computing for the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate, as the director of operational test and evaluation. Henniger comes to DOT&E — often a key provider of independent criticism of the Pentagon’s weapons development efforts — after major cuts to the office.
- Michael Payne to be the Pentagon’s director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), an office that historically has had a powerful hand in shaping defense budgets, including program rollbacks and cancellations. Payne is currently CAPE’s acting director, and told senators during his confirmation hearing that the office had taken an “inappropriate” advocacy role in the past, and that he would refocus it on its core duties, Federal News Network reported at the time.
- Kirsten Davies as DoD’s chief information officer will serve as the top advisor to the Defense Secretary for all things IT, cybersecurity, enterprise communications. Davies is currently the founder and CEO of Institute for Cyber, a nonprofit organization “with a mission to advance the safety, security, privacy, and digital integrity of experiences citizens have while using technology, AI, and digital data in their everyday lives,” according to its website.
Other officials confirmed through the nominations package were Brendan Rogers for assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment; David Denton Jr. as the Navy’s general counsel; Michael J. Borders for assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installation and environment; William Lane III as the Air Force’s general counsel; and Charles Young as the Army’s general counsel.
On Wednesday evening, the Senate separately confirmed a batch of military nominees by voice vote. That group included Lt. Gen. Dale White, who will tack on his fourth star to become the “direct report program manager” for a list of critical Air Force programs that includes the F-47 fighter, B-21 bomber, Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system, and Air Force One replacement aircraft.
It also included Maj. Gen. John Rafferty, who will be promoted to lieutenant general and take command of US Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
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Carley Welch contributed to this report.