By Emelie Rutherford

The Senate confirm the nominations of six senior Pentagon officials last night after senators who blocked their final approval released their holds.

The nominees, selected by President Barack Obama, are: Frank Kendall III to be principal deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics; Erin Conaton to be Air Force undersecretary; Malcolm Ross O’Neill to be assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics, and technology; Terry Yonkers to be assistant Air Force secretary for installations and environment; Paul Luis Oostburg Sanz to be Navy general counsel; and Jackalyne Pfannenstiel to be assistant Navy secretary for installations and environment.

“This will be good news for the Defense Department, good news for the troops,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said late yesterday on the Senate floor, when he announced the nominations were cleared for a confirmation vote as an “en bloc” package.

The nominees now are confirmed in their positions.

Alabama GOP Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions had blocked the nominations of Conaton and Kendall–by placing “holds” blocking the confirmation votes–because the senators are upset with how the Pentagon has conducted the competition for the next Air Force refueling tanker. Shelby, who also had concerns related to the FBI’s Terrorist Device Analytical Center, also placed a hold on Yonkers.

Shelby and Sessions support a Northrop Grumman [NOC]-European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. team in the contest for the tanker contract, but believe a Pentagon solicitation is biased toward competitor Boeing [BA].

O’Neill’s nomination was stymied by Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. They told the Army last December they had numerous questions about the service’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck contract and tactical-vehicle program they wanted answered.

The Government Accountability Office determined last December the Army erred in how it evaluated FMTV proposals from companies including BAE Systems, which has built the vehicle in Texas for nearly two decades, before granting the contract to Oshkosh Corp. [OSK]. Despite the GAO ruling in favor of BAE, the Army has reaffirmed its award to Oshkosh (Defense Daily, Feb. 16).