Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., pictured at a Senate hearing in July 2023. Schmitt on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, challenged Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey on a report that he wrote about improving diversity and inclusion in the Navy. Holsey is nominated for promotion to the rank of admiral and to lead U.S. Southern Command. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

Sen. Eric Schmitt on Thursday challenged President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead Southern Command over a report that the flag officer authored about improving diversity and inclusion in the Navy following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer.

Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey, who would be the first Black person to lead SOUTHCOM if he is confirmed by the Senate, distanced himself from the report and said it merely offered recommendations for the Navy to review and consider for building readiness and preparing sailors for war.

“We are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of people serving together. There’s so many of us today who are looking for an opportunity to serve. They want to serve our nation and do what’s best for all of us. The Navy was looking for a way to find out who people were,” Holsey said. “After two years in carrier strike group command, I was asked to lead this effort. I did not ask for it. I didn’t want to do it, but I think I was selected to do it because of my character [and] my reputation.”

“Listen, I admire your career,” said Schmitt, a Missouri Republican. “This is not the first time I’ve asked on this kind of topic when people came before [to testify] and their name has been associated with some of these ideas.”

The exchange was the only opposition that arose during the nearly two-hour Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to discuss Holsey to lead SOUTHCOM and Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus to lead the National Guard Bureau.

Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey is nominated by President Joe Biden for promotion to the rank of admiral and to lead U.S. Southern Command, where he is now the deputy commander. As part of the confirmation process, he testified Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, before the Senate Armed Services Committee. (U.S. Navy )

Most questions focused on the specific missions of each organization and the related national security and readiness concerns, and the officers’ willingness to combat aggression from Russia and China.

Beyond Schmitt, the senators asked little about the men’s history of service.

The Task Force One Navy report published in February 2021 at the direction of Adm. Michael Gilday, who was then chief of naval operations, was done with the intention of recommending how to make the Navy an organization where sailors “feel included, respected and empowered,” according to the report.

The Defense Department and other service branches released similar reports, as did many other government and private entities, as the country grappled with racial injustice laid bare in the death of Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Derek Chauvin, the officer and an Army Reserve veteran, was convicted and sentenced to prison in Floyd’s death.

Holsey, who is also nominated for promotion to admiral, served as director of Task Force One Navy, and the report offered 56 recommendations focused on recruiting, retention, professional development and innovation. Schmitt focused on two recommendations: offering applicants of the Navy ROTC and the U.S. Naval Academy a cultural questionnaire tailored to individual minority candidates, and labeling minority sailors and officers with a “diversity stamp” during promotion boards.

“I do think it’s incredibly divisive,” Schmitt said. “It’s just dividing the room by immutable characteristics. … It has no place in our military. I do think we should be active in reaching out to a broad group of people to serve. I don’t disagree with that at all.”

While Schmitt did not say whether his concerns would affect his willingness to confirm Holsey, he did conclude the line of questioning with a promise to send along additional questions.

“There’s just a lot of questions about this report that I have, which I hope you can appreciate. I’m not alone in this. I think we need to do everything we can to ensure that our armed services, our military, is the great meritocracy should be,” he said. “This obsession with race is not good for us. I don’t think gets us further down the road. I think it’s hurting recruiting.”

Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., closed the hearing soon after by telling Holsey and Nordhaus that he looked forward to their confirmation.

“We’ll try to do it with some diligence and speed,” he said.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., attends a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in July 2023. (Stars and Stripes)

Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in February 2022. (Lisa Ferdinando/Defense Department)

Earlier this week, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., put a hold on the confirmation of another military officer, Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, who was nominated to lead the Army’s Pacific Command. He is now serving as the top military aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Tuberville said he had concerns Clark and other senior staff did not immediately notify Biden when Austin was hospitalized earlier this year with complications from cancer treatment. The senator previously held up hundreds of military nominations because he opposes a Pentagon policy that allows troops leave to access out-of-state health care services, including abortions.

In Thursday’s confirmation hearing, Tuberville did not indicate that he would attempt to block the confirmations of Holsey or Nordhaus. He focused his questions on recruiting in the National Guard and ensuring access to the Panama Canal as China has exceedingly pushed its influence in Panama and across South America.

If confirmed, Holsey would take over SOUTHCOM from Army Gen. Laura Richardson, who will retire. Holsey now serves as Richardson’s deputy commander.

Based near Miami, the command provides security cooperation and conducts planning and operations within Central America, South America and the Caribbean. It also defends the Panama Canal.

Nordhaus, who is nominated for promotion to general, would replace Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, who retired last month. Since March 2023, Nordhaus has led the 1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern and Air Forces Space) and the continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region out of Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.

The National Guard Bureau oversees the federal functions of the Army and Air National Guards and serves as a meeting point of the National Guards within the 54 states and territories of the United States.