Admiral’s diversity report prompts questions from Republican senator at confirmation hearing

Sen. Eric Schmitt on Thursday challenged President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead Southern Command over a report the flag officer wrote on improving diversity and inclusion in the Navy following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer.

Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey, who would be the first black person to lead SOUTHCOM if confirmed by the Senate, distanced himself from the report and said it simply offered recommendations the Navy should consider and consider to strengthen readiness and prepare sailors for war.

“We are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of people serving together. There are many of us today who are looking for an opportunity to serve. They want to serve our nation and do what is best for all of us. The Navy was looking for a way to find out who people were,” Holsey said. “After two years in command of a carrier strike group, I was asked to lead this effort. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t want to do it, but I think I was chosen to do it because of my character (and) my reputation.”

“Look, I admire your career,” said Schmitt, a Missouri Republican. “This is not the first time I’ve asked these kinds of questions when people have come forward and their names have been associated with some of these ideas.”

The exchange was the only disagreement that arose during the Senate Armed Services Committee’s nearly two-hour hearing to discuss the nomination of Holsey to lead SOUTHCOM and Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus to lead the National Guard Bureau.

Most of the questions focused on the specific missions of each organization and concerns about national security and preparedness, as well as the officers’ willingness to combat aggression from Russia and China.

Beyond Schmitt, senators asked few questions about the men’s military backgrounds.

The Task Force One Navy report, released in February 2021 under then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, was written to recommend how to make the Navy an organization where sailors “feel included, respected and empowered,” according to the report.

The Defense Department and other services have issued similar reports, as have many other government and private entities, as the country grapples with the racial injustice exposed by the death of Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Derek Chauvin, the officer and Army Reserve veteran, was convicted and sentenced to prison in Floyd’s death.

Holsey, who is also nominated for promotion to admiral, served as director of Navy Task Force One, and the report offered 56 recommendations focused on recruiting, retention, professional development and innovation. Schmitt focused on two recommendations: providing Navy ROTC and U.S. Naval Academy candidates with a cultural questionnaire tailored to minority candidates, and putting a “diversity stamp” on minority sailors and officers on promotion boards.

“I think it’s incredibly divisive,” Schmitt said. “You’re just dividing the room based on immutable characteristics. … That has no place in our military. I think we should be reaching out to a broad group of people to serve. I don’t disagree with that at all.”

Although Schmitt did not say whether his concerns would affect his willingness to confirm Holsey, he concluded the round of questioning by promising to send additional questions.

“I have a lot of questions about this report, and I hope you can understand them. I’m not alone in this. I think we need to do everything we can to make sure that our armed forces, our military, is the great meritocracy that it should be,” he said. “This obsession with race is not good for us. I don’t think it’s moving us down that path. I think it’s hurting recruiting.”

Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., closed the hearing shortly afterward by telling Holsey and Nordhaus that he looked forward to their confirmation.

“We will try to do it diligently and quickly,” he said.

Earlier this week, Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville withheld confirmation of another military officer, Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, who was nominated to lead the Army’s Pacific Command. He is now the top military aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Tuberville said he was concerned that Clark and other senior officials did not immediately inform Biden when Austin was hospitalized earlier this year due to complications from cancer treatment. The senator has already blocked hundreds of military appointments because he opposes a Pentagon policy that allows troops to leave to access out-of-state health services, including abortions.

At Thursday’s confirmation hearing, Tuberville did not indicate he would try to block the confirmations of Holsey or Nordhaus. He focused his questions on National Guard recruiting and access to the Panama Canal, as China has dramatically increased its influence in Panama and across South America.

If confirmed, Holsey will succeed Gen. Laura Richardson, who is retiring. Holsey now serves as Richardson’s deputy commander.

Based near Miami, the command provides security cooperation and conducts planning and surveillance operations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. It also defends the Panama Canal.

Nordhaus, who is being considered for promotion to general, would replace Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, who retired last month. Since March 2023, Nordhaus has led 1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern and Air Forces Space) and the continental region of the U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.

The National Guard Bureau oversees federal functions of the Army and Air National Guard and serves as the focal point for National Guards in all 54 states and territories of the United States.