The Senate has confirmed Elbridge Colby as the undersecretary of defense for policy, the third highest role at the Pentagon. Colby’s nomination for the role has been seen as a major opportunity for foreign policy realists in the second Trump administration.

Colby was confirmed by a vote of 54–45. Three Democrats, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), voted in favor of Colby’s nomination.

Colby’s nomination had faced some resistance from Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), who had questioned Colby’s views on Iran, in particular Colby’s past articulation of the view that a nuclear-armed Iran could be contained. 

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a neocon grandee and former senate majority leader, was the sole Republican to vote against Colby’s nomination. McConnell criticized Colby’s desire to pivot U.S. grand strategy towards the Indo-Pacific in a statement.

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