Sen. John McCain agrees that Ashton Carter is `` qualified '' for the Defense Secretary position , but warns that he wo n't have much say on pressing national security issues . `` I 'm sure that he 's been around long enough to know that he will have little to no voice in the crucial decision on national security , '' he told reporters Tuesday in Washington . Meet Chuck Hagel 's expected replacement as Defense Secretary . McCain , who will pick up the Armed Services Committee gavel in January , is likely to chair Carter 's confirmation hearing , if he is nominated by President Barack Obama , which sources told CNN is expected to happen soon . While he thinks Carter will have a smooth hearing , he does n't think he 's the right person to lead the fight against ISIS . And it 's not his fault . `` No one can [ lead the fight ] because the White House , according to his three predecessors , centers all of the decision making among a handful of people in the White House who have only one thing in common : that they do n't know anything about the military , '' he said . The Arizona senator has continually attacked the president for being soft on combating ISIS . In a recent interview on Comedy Central 's `` Colber Report , '' McCain said boots on the ground is an inevitable reality , but there 's no way of knowing when it will happen because the president has remained passive on the issue . `` It 's a reality , this administration does n't give decision making authority to anybody but three or four people in the White House , which is one of the reasons it 's been such an abysmal failure . '' McCain says Carter will have to answer questions about the administration 's ISIS strategy , `` but it wo n't impact his nomination . '' Carter is currently second-in-line at the Pentagon , serving as Deputy Defense Secretary under Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel .
Sen. John McCain says Ashton Carter is qualified for Secretary of Defense position . The Arizona Republican said he has not yet decided whether to support the nomination or oppose it. McCain blames the White House for not involving top members at the Pentagon .