“It is with great reluctance that I come to the floor of the Senate to rise in opposition to the nomination of Congressman Mick Mulvaney,” the Armed Services chairman said. “Unfortunately, Congressman Mulvaney has spent his last six years in the House of Representatives pitting the national debt against our military.”

McCain criticized the fiscal hard-liner for voting for an amendment to cut $3.5 billion in defense spending, and for saying during his confirmation hearing last month that he didn’t remember that vote.

“I think anybody that treats our national defense with the seriousness it deserves would remember a vote like that,” McCain said on the floor.