Conservatives Express Support for Colby for Pentagon Post

Elbridge Colby, nominated to be undersecretary of defense for policy, received robust support from conservative Republicans over the weekend after there was some online discussion of potential Senate holdouts on his confirmation over previously expressed views on Iran.

Colby is set to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee at a to-be-determined date for a confirmation hearing for one of the most important positions at the Pentagon. 

A source familiar with the issue said that clarification on U.S. foreign policy aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is being asked of all Defense Department nominees in their meetings with many Republican senators. The source anticipated it would come up in Colby’s confirmation hearing as well. 

“[Colby] is an experienced and well-regarded professional, more than well-qualified for the job. His confirmation should be a no-brainer,” James Carafano, a national security and foreign policy expert at The Heritage Foundation’s president, told The Daily Signal.

Faced with some public discussion over Colby’s ideological qualifications, many prominent Republicans came out in support of him. 

“[Colby] has consistently been correct about the big foreign-policy debates of the last 20 years,” Vice President JD Vance said on X.

“As it happens, [he] is a friend and one of the best foreign policy guys in the country. The president has nominated him. And he should be easily confirmed,” the vice president went on to say.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who faced a tough confirmation hearing of his own with Democratic senators lodging deeply personal attacks against him, also threw his support behind Colby.

 Writing on X, Hegseth said he concurred with Vance.

Elon Musk elevated the post replying that, “If VP Vance and Sec Hegseth vouch for someone, that carries a lot of weight.”

Hugh Hewitt, an influential conservative radio host known for his foreign policy hawkishness, also came out in support for Colby, the grandson of William Colby, who served as CIA director in the 1970s.

As deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development in 2017 and 2018, Colby was responsible for developing defense strategy and policy analysis for the secretary of defense. In that capacity during President Donald Trump’s first term, he was the co-lead on the building of the National Defense Strategy, which serves as the Defense Department’s foremost planning guidance. In an era where the federal government is looking to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, Colby was also a lead policy representative to the program and budget review and support for strategic analysis processes.

For his government service, Colby was awarded the Exceptional Public Service Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Superior and Meritorious Honor Award from the State Department. 

“I have known and worked with Mr. Colby since 2010, and his focus on the Indo-Pacific is long-standing and strategically solid. The Pentagon and our nation will be well-served,” Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Allison Center for Nation Security at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.

If Colby is confirmed, he would be the principal adviser to Hegseth “for all matters pertaining to the formulation of national security and defense policy and the integration and oversight of DoD policy and plans to achieve national security objectives.”

Stalwart conservative and New York Times columnist Ross Douthat rounded out the calls of support with a note about being friends with Colby for 20 years. 

“Very, very few people … over the last decade have argued and written more seriously about what that kind of strategy looks like and how to make it work than [Colby],” Douthat wrote.

The post Conservatives Express Support for Colby for Pentagon Post appeared first on The Daily Signal.