McCaskill Meets Nominee for Commandant of the Marine Corps

Press Release

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill this week met with Lt. General Robert Neller, the nominee to be the 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps, to discuss his nomination process, Republican budget gimmicks which fail to adequately address sequestration level funding cuts, and ongoing work to curb retaliation agains t military sexual assault survivors.

"I appreciated the opportunity to speak with Lt. General Neller," said McCaskill, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We discussed the military's budgetary uncertainty--spurred by Republican budget gimmicks--that threatens to undermine military readiness at a time when we face grave challenges abroad, as well as the importance of implementing sexual assault reforms and reducing the unacceptable levels of retaliation against military sexual assault survivors. The next Commandant of the Marine Corps will play a critical in tackling all of these issues."

Republican leaders are pursuing a strategy of pumping resources into the Pentagon's off-the-books war budget, known as the "Overseas Contingency Operations" fund. McCaskill has likened that move to a dishonest "slush fund" since that fund does not have to be off-set or paid-for, and cannot be used by military leaders to maintain force structure.

Lt. General Neller currently serves as commander of Marine Corps Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and has spent 40-years as a Marine infantry officer. His previous posts include serving as Commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command, a position in which he oversaw Marine operations in the Middle East, director for Headquarters Marine Corps Plans, Policies, and Operations, and Deputy Commanding General for Operations for I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq.

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