Confirmation May Not Happen

The Senate may never get around to confirming Eric Fanning as the next secretary of the Army. The Association of the U.S. Army reported Jan. 26 that Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., is invoking senatorial privilege to block the nomination. Roberts will not budge, AUSA reported, until he receives assurances from the Obama administration that the detainee compound at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, would remain open. Roberts’ action comes even though Fanning, by all accounts, was impressive in recent confirmation hearings. If confirmed, Fanning would become the first openly homosexual person to serve in a high civilian Defense Department post.