The Senate voted early Friday to confirm retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, elevating him to four-star general and the nation’s highest-ranking military position.

The Pentagon has not announced plans to change the force posture in South Korea, but senators on Thursday said they were concerned by rumors that troops there will be redeployed elsewhere.

Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee warned Wednesday that tariffs levied against Australia and other security partners in the Indo-Pacific region were harming relationships needed to deter China.

The Defense Department is reportedly considering the removal of thousands of troops from Eastern Europe as part of an effort to cut costs and prioritize the Indo-Pacific and other regions. Members of the House Armed Services Committee are urging the administration to reconsider.

The abrupt firing of the general in charge of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency drew sharp condemnation on Friday from lawmakers, mostly Democrats, who oversee defense and the intelligence community.

The commanders of U.S. troops in Europe and Africa expressed trepidation Thursday about the Pentagon’s reported plans to consolidate commands and give up America’s role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Dan Caine, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, committed Tuesday to serving as a nonpartisan leader who would give unvarnished military advice and always “strive to do the right thing” if confirmed as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The request is bipartisan, with the Republican chairman of the committee and the top Democrat on the panel asking the Defense Department’s inspector general to assess whether anyone in the chat transferred classified information, and if so, how.

Troy Meink, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Air Force, told senators that he will focus on technical innovation and workforce retention if confirmed as the next secretary for the service.

Only a handful of courses at the military’s service academies have been eliminated to comply with President Donald Trump’s directive to scrub diversity programming from their campuses, the academies’ superintendents told a Senate subpanel hearing Wednesday.