�WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st July, 2020) President Donald Trump's nominee to become undersecretary of defense for policy will remain at the Pentagon as an adviser after his confirmation hearing was canceled amid controversy over his past anti-Muslim statements, Defense Department Chief Spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said on Thursday.
The Senate Armed Services Committee earlier on Thursday canceled a scheduled confirmation hearing for retired Brigadier General Anthony Tata, a prominent supporter of Trump and a regular commentator for the conservative Fox tv news channel.
"General Tata will remain a senior adviser within the office of the secretary," Hoffman told reporters in a press briefing after the hearing was canceled.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he called off the hearing because lawmakers did not have enough time to review the documents Tata had submitted.
"We didn't get the required documentation in time; some documents, which we normally get before a hearing, didn't arrive until yesterday, SASC Chair Senator Jim Inhofe said in a statement. "As I told the President last night, we're simply out of time with the August recess coming, so it wouldn't serve any useful purpose to have a hearing at this point, and he agreed."
According to media reports, Tata in 2018 posted tweets calling islam "the most oppressive violent religion I know of," and calling former President Barack Obam a "terrorist leader." He deleted his controversial tweets after being nominated for his new Pentagon job.
Commenting on the row on Thursday, Hoffman told reporters, "Even the general (Tata) does not support the comments that he had made previously."
Following the growing controversy, Tata lacked enough support on the floor of the Senate and in key committees for his nomination to be approved, media outlets reported on Thursday.
