The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for Pentagon policy chief, a win for the increasingly vocal wing of the GOP that wants the U.S. to focus on China rather than Europe and the Middle East.
Colby’s contentious nomination highlighted a foreign policy rift inside the Republican party. The hard-nosed realist has often clashed with traditional defense hawks, who worry his laser focus on Beijing comes at the detriment of other priorities, such as the Ukraine war.
Top members of Trump’s circle, including Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., engaged in a pressure campaign to ensure he made it through. They prevailed. Colby was confirmed 54-45, largely along party lines, with three Democrats also backing him. Just one Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, defected.
Colby — who has served in the Pentagon, State Department and in the office of the director of national intelligence — was instrumental in crafting a 2018 national defense strategy during Trump’s first term. The blueprint sought to reorient the military on so-called great power competition with Russia and China.
The incoming policy head has argued that the U.S. must prioritize deterring an invasion of Taiwan by China over assisting Kyiv. He has insisted Beijing’s military buildup and limited U.S. stockpiles of weapons require that trade-off, and Europe should take on the burden of helping defend Ukraine.
That stance has clashed with traditional hawks, who argue backing out of Europe risks emboldening Russia. Some hawks have also raised concerns about his past views favoring containment over intervention in Iran.
McConnell, who has acted as a foil to the Trump administration on foreign policy, excoriated Colby’s focus on the Pacific at the expense of other regions.
“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.
But Colby also won over a handful of Democrats. Three Democratic senators supported his confirmation: Senate Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).
Trump allies came out in force to defend Colby’s nomination — including Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and conservative media personality Charlie Kirk. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who voted to confirm him, raised concerns during Colby’s confirmation hearing about his positions on the Middle East — and became a target of that criticism.
