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Senate Confirms Frank Rose
January/February 2015
The Senate on Dec. 16 confirmed Frank Rose as assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification, and compliance. Rose, who took office two days later, previously served as deputy assistant secretary of state for space and defense policy.
Rose was nominated for the new post on July 18, 2013. He succeeds Rose Gottemoeller, who was sworn in on March 7, 2014, as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. (See ACT, April 2014.)
After being approved twice by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, once in October 2013 and again last February, Rose’s nomination was held up by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and others over concerns about the Obama administration’s response to Russia’s alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and about the administration’s policy toward potential future nuclear weapons reductions.
In a March 3, 2014, statement opposing a vote on Gottemoeller’s nomination, Rubio and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and James Risch (R-Idaho) said they would continue to voice their concerns “on every relevant nominee and in every setting possible because such policies are dangerous and will make Americans less safe.”
Rose was confirmed by a voice vote after clearing two procedural hurdles. A motion to proceed to a vote on Rose’s confirmation was approved on Dec. 13 by a vote of 52-41, with all Democratic senators present voting to proceed and all Republican senators present voting against proceeding. The Senate voted 54-39 to end debate on Rose’s nomination on Dec. 15.