Ash Carter: He Could Be the Next Secretary of Defense

Ashton Carter is scheduled to take questions from lawmakers in the Senate Armed Services Committee today as he looks to secure his nomination as the 25th U.S. Secretary of Defense.

President Obama nominated Carter in December as the replacement for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, whose tenure has been largely defined by renewed turmoil in the Middle East, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and rising tensions with China.

While Hagel's 2013 confirmation hearings saw him butt heads with Republicans, Carter's announcement was largely seen as uncontroversial in most respects. Though lawmakers are expected to press him over the Obama administration's foreign policy plans moving forward in his final two years.

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain told ABC News in December that Carter "is not controversial," and said in a statement that the hearing "will provide a valuable opportunity to fully ventilate all of issues around this Administration's feckless foreign policy, and its grave consequences for the safety and security of our nation."

To learn more about Carter, watch the ABC News Global Affairs digital original video above.