Senate Confirms Caudle as CNO and Five Senior Officers in Voice Vote
The selections end a six-month vacancy at the Navy’s top uniformed post, feature first-time appointments in multiple services, demonstrate Congress’s effort to clear a defense nominations backlog.
Overview
- Adm. Daryl Caudle was approved by voice vote as Chief of Naval Operations, filling a role left open since Adm. Lisa Franchetti’s February dismissal.
- Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton was confirmed as Vice Chief of Space Operations and Vice Adm. Frank Bradley as head of U.S. Special Operations Command, each set to receive four-star rank.
- Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson will become the first Air Force officer to lead U.S. Africa Command and Maj. Gen. David Bligh will serve as the first Marine judge advocate general of the Navy in over a century.
- Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte was confirmed as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, marking the first time a Marine has held the post since Yvette Davids’s removal under recent academy reforms.
- Lawmakers conducted the unanimous voice-vote confirmations as part of a push to clear a backlog of defense nominations before the congressional summer recess, with additional senior appointments still pending.