Vice President J.D. Vance slammed former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for voting against President Trump’s pick for a top Pentagon role.
McConnell was the sole Republican to oppose Elbridge Colby’s nomination for the Pentagon’s undersecretary of policy position, the third-highest position in the Defense Department.
Posting on the X platform, Vance denounced McConnell’s act of “political pettiness.”
“Mitch’s vote today—like so much of the last few years of his career—is one of the great acts of political pettiness I’ve ever seen,” Vance wrote.
Mitch’s vote today—like so much of the last few years of his career—is one of the great acts of political pettiness I’ve ever seen. https://t.co/Qg6eAOqW4J
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 8, 2025
In his statement justifying the vote, McConnell criticized Colby’s previous remarks advocating a shift in U.S. national security priorities toward the Indo-Pacific at the expense of other regions.
“The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of a la carte geostrategy,” he wrote.
”Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move.”
“It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit,” he continued.
Scathing statement from Mitch McConell after he votes against Elbridge Colby, who was just confirmed by the Senate for a top Pentagon post.
“Make no mistake: America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline.” pic.twitter.com/tckBmtgAKC
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 8, 2025
The former Senate Majority Leader also voted against the confirmations of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Mitch McConnell Releases Vile Statement Against RFK Jr. After Voting Against Him for HHS Secretary
Yet his intervention on Tuesday once again made little difference after Colby was approved by a 54-45 vote after three Democrats voted with otherwise unified Republicans.
McConnell will be retiring from the Senate at the end of his term in 2026.
However, there has been speculation that due to a series of recent health scares, he may be forced to step down before his term ends.
While hoping he remains in reasonable health, his departure from the U.S. Senate cannot come soon enough.
