General Petraeus won’t have to wait long.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin says his committee will take up Petraeus’ nomination to serve as Afghanistan commander within days.
“It would be no later than next Tuesday,” Levin told reporters this afternoon. “We’re going to try make it out obviously as quickly as we possibly can.”
There are some technical issues that need to be sorted out before the entire Senate can take up Petraeus’ nomination, though Levin predicted he’d be confirmed before the July 4 recess. But the first steps are poised to proceed smoothly. Levin’s minority counterpart, ranking member John McCain told reporters today that the hearings and vote on Petraeus’ nomination might well be “the fastest in the history of the Armed Services Committee.”
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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