Secretary of Defense to contact Manchin after Republicans raise concerns about Pentagon nominee’s tweets

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans to speak with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin after Colin Kahl, the Biden administration’s nominee for the top policy job at the Pentagon, came under fire from Republicans for tweets criticizing several Trump administration defense policy decisions.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Austin plans on calling Manchin, a moderate Democrat and a crucial potential swing vote in a 50-50 Senate, as the department is “certainly mindful of the concerns that some members have expressed.” The planned conversation comes after the senator played a key role in sinking the nomination of another one of President Joe Biden’s picks because of comments made on social media.

“We value the oversight, the advising consent responsibility of the committee, and the secretary looks forward to continuing to work with the committee and to help address any of the concerns that they might have,” Kirby said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

Kirby would not comment on what Austin planned to discuss with Manchin.

Politico first reported the planned call.

In his confirmation hearing, Kahl apologized to Republican senators for using “sometimes disrespectful” language in tweets.

Kirby said he is “not aware of” Austin having had any discussions with other senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee about Kahl’s nomination.

Manchin did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, but he told Fox News’ Bret Baier Tuesday evening, “I’ve not made a final decision” about Kahl’s nomination.

“I’ve reached out to Republicans who he’s worked with and who he’s worked under,” Manchin said. “I want to get everybody’s input, so I’m gathering all of that information.”

Republican criticism of Kahl’s past tweets came after the White House withdrew Biden’s nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget last week. Tanden’s nomination was pulled after several Republicans and Manchin raised concerns about her past comments and posts on social media.

During Kahl’s Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing last week, several Republican senators, including Tom Cotton pf Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa, brought up concerns about some of his past tweets that criticized former President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and defense decisions.

Cotton cited a tweet in which Kahl said the “Republican party has debased itself at the altar of Trump,” and is the party of “ethnic cleansing,” in response to a story about Syria.

In a separate tweet, Kahl had accused Republican senators who upheld Trump’s veto of a resolution that would have limited the former President’s ability to support Saudi Arabia in the ongoing conflict in Yemen as “owning the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen,” Cotton said during the hearing.

Kahl apologized for his past tweets during the hearing.

“To state the obvious, the last few years have been pretty polarizing on social media. I’m sure there are times that I got swept up in that,” Kahl said. “There were a number of positions that President Trump took that I strongly opposed. I think the language that I used in opposing those was sometimes disrespectful, and for that I apologize.”

This story has been updated with additional reaction.