The shape of the Capitol Hill defense establishment in the post-McCain era formally gelled Wednesday, as Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican John Kyl, a former Senator himself, was sworn in to serve the remainder of the late McCain’s term.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Inhofe’s ascension to chair of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Vice President Michael Pence swore Kyl, whose name rhymes with “aisle,” into the Senate the same day. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) appointed Kyl to fill the seat Tuesday in a press conference webcast from Phoenix.
Inhofe, who shepherded the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act through the Senate while McCain was ill, is far friendlier to President Trump than was McCain, who died Aug. 25 from brain cancer. McCain, a military hawk and critic who favors American engagement in international affairs, pointedly and publicly feuded with Trump before and following the New Yorker’s election in 2016.
Kyl was a U.S. Senator from Arizona from 1995 to 2013, serving alongside McCain for all three of those terms. He was less directly involved with military policy than McCain, and is widely regarded as a more traditionally conservative politician than his predecessor. In his previous Senate stint, Kyl was the minority whip, and the ranking member on judiciary and finance subcommittees. During his time in the Senate, he took a keen interest in bolstering missile defense capabilities.