Biden’s pick for top Navy leader would be first female Joint Chiefs member

Franchetti would replace Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, whose four-term year ends this fall.

But Franchetti will quickly join a nomination logjam in the Senate, as Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is single-handedly blocking more than 270 military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.

With no obvious resolution to the blockade in sight, top nominations are stacking up. The Senate Armed Services Committee this week sent the nominee for Army chief, Gen. Randy George, and for Joint Chiefs chair, Gen. C.Q. Brown, to the full Senate for consideration. The head of the Marine Corps, Gen. David Berger, has already retired, leaving Assistant Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith as the temporary chief until he is confirmed as commandant.

The Senate is set to recess at the end of next week for a month, leaving virtually no time for her confirmation process to play out before Gilday steps down next month, assuring a gap atop Navy leadership that Franchetti will fill on an acting basis.

Franchetti currently serves as vice chief of naval operations, the Navy’s No. 2. She has spent her career in surface warships, is only the second woman to hold the office of vice chief, and is one of only a handful of women who have risen to the rank of four-star officer in the U.S. military.

By choosing Franchetti for the job, Biden overruled Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who recommended a different officer for the job: Adm. Samuel Paparo, who leads the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Also on Friday, Biden announced that he’s nominating Paparo to move up to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Vice Adm. James Kilby to replace Franchetti as vice chief of naval operations, and Vice Adm. Stephen “Web” Koehler to replace Paparo at Pacific Fleet.

On Friday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the president worked the latest slate of nominees “together” with the defense secretary, and he does not believe there is any daylight between the two on the decision.

“We think we’ve hit the jackpot with this set of leaders,” Sullivan told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum. “The president had the chance to sit with the secretary of defense and they worked the slate together.”

The White House announcement also referenced Tuberville’s hold.

“Given the national security challenges we face around the world, I urge the Senate to move quickly in confirming them, along with the other military nominations currently on hold,” Biden said. “These leadership positions are far too important to delay filling while one Senator prioritizes his domestic political agenda over our military readiness.”