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The Senate confirmed yet another of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Tuesday, this time for a position that maintains veterans’ cemeteries and oversees burials.
Sam Brown, an Army veteran and former Nevada GOP Senate candidate, was confirmed by the Senate to be Trump’s Veteran’s Affairs undersecretary for memorial affairs. The 54-44 vote was largely a partisan affair, save for Nevada’s Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jackie Rosen, who both crossed the aisle to vote for Brown’s confirmation.
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The undersecretary for memorial affairs oversees the National Cemetery Administration, which operates and maintains over 150 national cemeteries. National cemeteries across the country have roughly 4 million veterans interred in their grounds, according to the VA.
And the National Cemetery Administration provides for over 100,000 military veterans and eligible family members each year.
Trump nominated Brown, who served in the army for five years before medically retiring after a roadside improvised explosive device detonated and burned one-third of his body, in January, and lauded him as an “American hero” in a post on his social media platform Truth Social at the time.
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“He fearlessly proved his love for our country in the army, while leading troops in battle in Afghanistan and, after being honorably retired as a captain, helping our veterans get access to emergency medications,” Trump said.
Brown’s confirmation marked the third of the day in the Senate, where a growing list of Trump’s nominees to a variety of agencies, judgeships and ambassadorships have been slowed down by Senate Democrats.
Senate Republican leadership are trudging through the Democrats’ blockade, and working to hammer out a deal to get more nominees moved through quicker.
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Senate Republicans argued that Brown’s position, in particular, shouldn’t be subject to the partisanship on display in Democrats’ attempts to slow walk other, more controversial nominees.
Sen. Jerry Moran, chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, had his request earlier this year to confirm Brown through a much faster process, known as unanimous consent, objected to by Senate Democrats in May.
“Laying our veterans to rest with honor, serving their families with dignity is not a Republican or Democrat issue,” the Kansas Republican said in a statement at the time. “I am discouraged that we cannot work in a bipartisan manner to confirm this qualified and capable leader for the National Cemetery Administration. That position is responsible for carrying out our nation’s most solemn responsibility, burying our veterans.”
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