Army secretary choice missing from nominations hearing

The Senate Armed Services Committee is slated Wednesday to consider several Defense Department nominations, although Air Force Secretary James Roche, President Bush's pick to be the next Army secretary, is conspicuously absent from the roster, according to a Senate aide.

Bush announced Roche's nomination last May, but controversy surrounding Roche's handling of the Air Force Academy's sexual-assault scandal could jeopardize approval of his appointment to the Army's top civilian post.

"Roche's nomination is on hold by the committee pending the outcome of the Defense Department [inspector general] investigation into the Air Force Academy and the leadership's response to sexual-assault issues there," said a committee spokesman, adding that the investigation is expected to wrap up early this year.

In addition, Roche's involvement with a multi-billion dollar plan to lease Boeing jets for use as military aerial refueling tankers could hamper his confirmation, as the Senate Armed Services Committee remains particularly critical of the proposed deal.

Both Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a senior member of the committee, have led criticism of Roche's role in the tanker deal, which is now on hold pending the outcome of a government investigation.

Meanwhile, the committee has yet to move the nomination of Michael Wynne to be the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Wynne, also under the committee's watchful eye in connection with the Boeing tanker lease proposal, attended his confirmation hearing in late November -- though the committee has yet to move it to the Senate floor -- and likely will not until the Pentagon agrees to divulge e-mail exchanges and other records requested last year by McCain that could shed light on Wynne's role in negotiating the proposed tanker lease.

The panel also is expected to consider the nomination of William Chatfield, a government relations consultant, to run the Selective Service System; Lawrence Di Rita, the president's choice for assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs; and Francis Harvey, director of Duratek, a company that assists in disposing of radioactive materials, to be the new assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration. All three were announced late last year -- well after the president posted Roche's nomination in May 2003.