Some Senate Republicans Seem Unsure on Key Trump Defense Nominee

If confirmed, Elbridge Colby would play a key role in advising the secretary of defense and shape U.S. national security policies.

Gen. Stephen W. Wilson (R) and Elbridge Colby (C) participate in a panel discussion at the Air Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Md., Sept. 17, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Chad Trujillo

WASHINGTON—Some Republicans may still need convincing before they agree to support President Donald Trump’s nominee for a key Pentagon strategy post.

Elbridge Colby is set to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 4, as the Senate considers his nomination to serve as the under-secretary of defense for policy.

If confirmed, Colby would serve as the principal defense policy adviser for the secretary of defense and would help shape U.S. national security policies.

Colby’s nomination has appeared to split elected Republicans and conservative commentators.

Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk took to the X social media platform on Feb. 16, saying Colby’s nomination is an important component in an effort to stop a “Bush/Cheney cabal” within the Department of Defense.

Kirk accused Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) of trying to undermine Trump by opposing Colby’s Senate confirmation.

Sitting for a podcast interview with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Feb. 18, Cotton said one of his top priorities is to ensure Iran doesn’t obtain nuclear weapons.

Cotton said he and Trump are aligned in their opposition to a nuclear-armed Iran.

The Arkansas senator, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his priority with any nominee for a national security position is to ensure nominees are similarly aligned in those views.

“I look forward to speaking to [Colby] about, you know, what he’s written about Iran in the past, what he thinks now, how he sees that fitting in with President Trump’s declared priority of stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” Cotton said.

Since the podcast appearance, Cotton has not said whether he has met with Colby or cleared up any concerns about Colby’s views on Iran.

During a podcast appearance with Fox News Radio’s Will Cain, Cotton mentioned “other issues” he would like to explore with Colby.

In the past, the Arkansas Republican and Colby have offered divergent perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine war and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In 2023, when Cotton supported cluster munitions for Ukraine, saying they were necessary “for Ukrainian forces to defeat Putin’s invasion,” Colby was more critical of the move, suggesting the United States appeared to have “set expectations for the maximal goals” while only “actually prepared to deliver on the latter.”

Additionally, while Cotton promoted Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO, Colby raised questions about the value of that move and later said it was “not some massive triumph that altered the geopolitical landscape.”

Cotton declined a request for comment from The Epoch Times on March 3.

Colby’s Foreign Policy Views

Trump already has some rapport with Colby, who joined his first administration.

From 2017 to 2018, Colby served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development at the Pentagon.

During his time at the Pentagon, Colby helped craft the Trump administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy and the Defense Department’s 2018 National Defense Strategy.

Outside of government, Colby has provided national security policy commentary and analysis for a variety of think tanks and news publications.

In a July 2023 op-ed published with The Times of Israel, Colby argued for a U.S. national security strategy that shifts focus away from the Middle East and toward the possibility of conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

“America should be ready to provide potent material and political support to Israel. But at the same time, Israel should understand that the United States, which cannot afford to be enmeshed in another Middle Eastern war, will take a supporting role,” Colby wrote.

In another 2010 essay for Foreign Policy, Colby discussed ways the United States could continue to deter Iran, even if Tehran does obtain nuclear weapons.

Iran's Natanz nuclear facility in a satellite photo on April 7, 2021. Planet Labs Inc. via AP

“Containment is certainly not the best outcome—successfully preventing Iranian acquisition is. But if the only way to do that is to embark on a probably futile attempt to militarily suppress Iran’s nuclear program, or, God forbid, invade Iran, the hard work of containment offers a least bad option,” he wrote at the time.

After Kirk raised alarm about Colby’s nomination last month, political commentator Park MacDougald took to X, arguing that Trump’s nominee “is a sort of bipartisan establishment type whose roots are in the Obama Democratic Party.”

MacDougald noted Colby worked for the Center For A New American Security (CNAS) think tank both before and after his Trump administration tenure.

MacDougald cast CNAS as former President Barack Obama’s “favorite think tank,” and claimed Colby supported Jeb Bush’s 2016 Republican presidential campaign.

“I assume Cotton’s objections have more to do with elevating a Democrat than defending a fictional ‘Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD’ that somehow survived the past 16 years of Democratic ascendancy,” MacDougald wrote in a Feb. 16 X post.

Vice President JD Vance rose to Colby’s defense following MacDougald’s critiques.

“Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years. He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement,” Vance wrote in a responsive Feb. 16 X post.

“He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist.”

Donald Trump Jr. has also joined in backing his father’s nominee.

In a Feb. 18 op-ed for Human Events, Trump Jr. said Colby and his father both stand opposed to a nuclear-armed Iran.

“But just the same Colby is also with my father in wanting to avoid a large Middle East war if at all possible,” Trump Jr. wrote.

“Like my father, he is not a fanatic, looking for a war; he is practical, tough, but looking for a non-military solution if possible.”

Where Republican Lawmakers Line Up

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who previously served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently told The Epoch Times he stands behind Colby’s nomination.

As for where his fellow Republicans stand, Hawley was uncertain.

“I’m going to vote for [Colby] enthusiastically, but I just, I don’t know. I’m not on that committee anymore, so I don’t have a good sense of where the vote tally is there,” Hawley said.

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on Jan. 14, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Cotton’s views on Colby could also sway other Republican senators who have yet to decide where they stand.

When asked about Colby’s nomination last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told The Epoch Times, “I’m going to talk to Sen. Cotton about that and see what he thinks, and I'll get back with you." 

When reached for comment last week, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) noted some Republican senators have raised concerns about some of Trump’s other nominees before coming around to back the president’s picks.

Mullin predicted the same pattern would hold for Colby’s nomination.

“We’ve been able to work past every one those issues,” the Oklahoma Republican said.