2:15 P.M. UPDATE:
The Republican-led Senate has decisively approved legislation to permit retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to run the Pentagon for Donald Trump.
The 81-17 vote came just a few hours after the Senate Armed Services Committee cleared the bill overwhelmingly.
The measure overrides a prohibition against former U.S. service members who have been out of uniform for less than seven years from holding the top job at the Defense Department.
The House Armed Services Committee is preparing to vote on a similar bill to exempt Mattis from the rule. A vote in the full House is scheduled for Friday. The bill then would go to the president for signature.
Mattis retired from military service in 2013.
The legislation is separate from a Senate confirmation vote on Mattis serving as Trump's defense secretary.
Check back with Arkansas Online for updates on this developing story and read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
[TRUMP: Timeline of president-elect’s career + list of appointments so far]
NOON UPDATE:
The Senate Armed Services Committee has overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to run the Pentagon.
The Republican-led panel voted 24-3 to clear the bill after Mattis testified before the committee. Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren opposed it.
The measure overrides a prohibition against former U.S. service members who have been out of uniform for less than seven years from holding the job. Mattis retired from the Marine Corps as a four-star general in 2013. He had been a battlefield commander for most of his career.
The full Senate and House must approve the bill before sending it to the president.
11:30 A.M. UPDATE:
Gen. James Mattis says President-elect Donald Trump isn't opposed to buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Mattis says Trump just wants the "best bang for the buck."
Trump has attacked the cost of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as "out of control." The program has a nearly $400 billion price tag and is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons acquisition.
Mattis is Trump's pick for defense secretary. The retired Marine general is telling the Senate Armed Services Committee that the jet fighter is critical to the U.S. maintaining its air superiority. The aircraft incorporates stealth technology that allows it to evade radar detection.
11 A.M. UPDATE:
Ben Carson is declining to guarantee that, if confirmed as housing secretary, no money from his department will benefit President-elect Donald Trump or his family.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed Carson on this at the famed neurosurgeon's confirmation hearing Thursday. She wanted assurances that "not one dollar" of Housing and Urban Development money would go to the Trumps. The family made its fortune in real estate.
Carson says it won't be his intention to benefit an individual American. He says he will manage things to benefit all Americans.
He says if an extraordinary program benefited millions, but a particular individual were to receive $10, "am I going to say 'no, the rest of you Americans can't have it?'"
Carson said that "logic and common sense probably would be the best way."
10:30 A.M. UPDATE:
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to run the CIA says Russian meddling in the president election was an aggressive action taken by senior Russian leaders.
At his confirmation hearing Thursday, congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas says it's pretty clear Russia worked to hack information and to have an effect on American democracy.
Trump has voiced skepticism that Russia was behind hacking of political sites. But he said Wednesday for the first time that he believes Russia was responsible for the hacking.
10:25 A.M. UPDATE:
Democratic senators are questioning how Ben Carson's promise to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in annual spending squares with overseeing a department that serves millions of the poorest Americans.
Carson is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for housing secretary.
At Carson's confirmation hearing, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio says the call for a 10 percent budget cut for government agencies would send hundreds of thousands of families into a tailspin.
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey questioned Carson on whether he supports the concept of rental assistance. Carson assures him that rental assistance is "essential."
Carson says his philosophy on entitlement programs is that it's cruel to remove them without providing an alternative.
10:15 A.M. UPDATE:
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis says he has no intention of reversing rules that allow LGBT personnel to serve openly in the military.
President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary tells the Senate Armed Services Committee he's only concerned about making the U.S. armed forces as lethal as possible.
Mattis says: "I'm not concerned about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with."
He also says he doesn't expect to reverse a 2015 decision by President Barack Obama administration to open all front-line combat jobs to women.
Mattis said Thursday he'll be focused on getting the U.S. military into "its most lethal stance."
10:05 A.M. UPDATE:
President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary says clear boundaries are needed in the cyber world so potential adversaries know what America won't tolerate.
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis says "a lot of crises and wars are started from miscalculation."
He's testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. His remarks come a week after an intelligence report detailed allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election.
9:59 A.M. UPDATE:
President-elect Donald Trump's pick for housing secretary says he chuckles when people question how his career as a neurosurgeon applies to running a government agency.
Ben Carson says the brain is capable of amazing things.
Carson says at his Senate confirmation hearing that a good CEO doesn't know everything about running a particular business. But he says a good CEO knows how to pick people and use their talents.
Carson says he's been fortunate to move from the bottom up in life. He says true compassion is putting people in a situation where they can feel good about where they are going.
9:50 A.M. UPDATE:
President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be defense secretary is telling senators the military isn't robust enough to deal with the wide range of threats the U.S. is facing.
James Mattis is a retired Marine Corps general. He's testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona says he thinks deterrence is critical, and that requires the strongest armed forces. McCain asked Mattis, "Do we have that?"
Mattis responded, "No sir."
Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to rebuild the military services and eliminate the strict, across-the-board spending limits that have constrained the defense budget.
9:37 A.M. UPDATE:
President-elect Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary says Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to break NATO.
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that America's key alliances are under the biggest attack since World War II.
He says "history isn't a straitjacket," but that it is a guide for dealing with Moscow. Mattis says there have been many attempts by the U.S. over the years to reset relations with Russia, but the list of successes is short.
Mattis is recommending the U.S. to take military, economic and diplomatic steps "to defend ourselves where we must."
9:36 A.M. UPDATE:
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is introducing Ben Carson as having the values, compassion and drive needed to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Carson is appearing before a Senate committee for his confirmation hearing. Rubio ran against Carson for the Republican presidential nomination. He says he got to know Carson well during the election.
Rubio says Carson is a leader who knows how to overcome tough obstacles. He says people have literally put their lives in his hands as a neurosurgeon.
EARLIER:
Donald Trump's pick to run the CIA is taking a tough stand against Russia and distancing himself from the president-elect.
Congressman Mike Pompeo is a four-term Kansas conservative. Pompeo is appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee amid a testy standoff between Trump and the spy community over Russian activities during the presidential election.
Pompeo says in opening remarks that Russia has reasserted itself aggressively by invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe and doing what he calls "nothing" to help defeat Islamic State militants.
Trump is calling for warmer relations with Moscow.
Ironically, the lights in the committee room went out when Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia mentioned Russia in his opening statement.