Inhofe: Hyten approved by Senate Armed Services Committee

Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe said Wednesday his committee had approved Air Force Gen. John Hyten to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, clearing the way for a Senate confirmation vote despite controversial allegations of sexual assault.

"Right now they're going to be voting for another 30 minutes," the Oklahoma Republican said of the committee, which acted behind closed doors. "It's still open, but I declared it to be victorious."

Hyten currently oversees the nation's nuclear forces as head of U.S. Strategic Command, and if confirmed by the full Senate, would replace Air Force Gen. Paul Selva in the No. 2 military post. He would serve alongside Army Gen. Mark Milley when Milley replaces Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford this fall as chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

A former subordinate of Hyten's, Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, accused the four-star general of sexual assault this spring after President Donald Trump nominated him for vice chairman. The allegations prompted an Air Force investigation that the Pentagon says did not substantiate the claims.

In closed testimony to the Armed Services Committee, Spletstoser warned committee members that confirming Hyten could discourage military sexual assault victims from coming forward.

Hyten denied the allegations during his public confirmation hearing, asserting that "nothing happened, ever."

During that hearing, Hyten won support from committee members including Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), who was raped by a superior office during her career as an Air Force pilot.

"The full truth was revealed in this process," McSally told the committee. "Sexual assault happens in the military. It just didn't happen in this case."

Introducing Hyten at the hearing, former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said she believed Hyten was "falsely accused."

Still, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) called sexual assault "a cancer within our military" and questioned Hyten's responses to the committee. "I worry about your leadership on this issue," she said.

And Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged Hyten to provide written answers to what he called "serious unresolved questions and factual issues that have not been completely answered on the record."

Earlier this year, the military estimated in a report that some 20,500 troops were sexually assaulted in 2018, a four-year high.

Connor O'Brien and Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.