The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the nominations of General Lloyd Austin to be commander of United States Central Command, which is responsible for operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and General David Rodriguez to be commander of United States Africa Command. 
The witnesses were questioned about their experiences. General Austin, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said that he finds recent developments in that country “very troubling.” . He also expressed support for maintaining a large Afghan security force and warned about potential consequences of budget cuts. Among other issues, General Rodriguez commented on weapons proliferation out of Libya.