The Senate voted early Friday morning to confirm retired Lt.
Gen. Dan Caine, President Donald Trump's nominee for chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
The 60-25 vote came after Democrats, backed by Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), delayed speedy approval of Caine's nomination in
protest of Trump's dismissal of the military's previous top commander, Gen.
C.Q. Brown Jr. Senators, who are about to go on a two-week recess, said Brown's
removal was unjustified.
Despite Brown's unexplained dismissal, Caine received bipartisan
support during a largely uneventful confirmation hearing, with no major
obstacles to becoming the U.S. military's highest-ranking uniformed leader. The
Senate Armed Services Committee, which conducted the hearing, voted 23-4 to
forward his nomination to the full Senate.