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Congressional Daily Record
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March 24, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I give notice of my intent to object to any unanimous consent agreement regarding Executive Calendar No. PN681-2, PN835-2, and PN793-2, the promotions of Lieutenant Colonel Vincent J. Noble, Lieutenant Commander Thomas P. MacNeil, and Colonel Thomas M. Siverts.
Vincent J. Noble took part in the killings of 19 Afghan civilians, firing indiscriminately at civilian vehicles and bystanders. A military inquiry found that in response to a suicide bomb attack, Noble's platoon went on a rampage across a 7-mile stretch of highway, massacring unarmed civilians on sight. An investigation revealed that Noble asked marines to lie, that he submitted a false version of events to his company commander, and violated an order from the commanding officer, which explicitly directed the battalion to not operate in or around Jalalabad, according to military records. In June 2008, the Commander, Marine Forces Central Command, found Noble guilty, in accordance with his plea, of violating article 133, Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Allowing marines under an officer's command to kill civilians indiscriminately is a serious war crime. Those who commit or allow such actions or make false reports about those actions should be held accountable and certainly withheld from promotions within the military.
Thomas P. MacNeil served in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017 as part of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher's platoon. Gallagher stabbed to death a wounded and captive teen boy and held him by the hair in one hand and his knife in the other as photos were taken. MacNeil also posed in certain pictures with the body. MacNeil was implicated in the court martial of Gallagher when Gallagher was accused of committing war crimes in Iraq. The Commander of the SEALs at the time, Rear Admiral Collin Green, pushed for Chief Gallagher and others, including MacNeil, to be stripped of their Tridents. President Trump intervened multiple times to prevent the Navy from disciplining Gallagher, and in 2019, then-Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly also intervened and decided to drop the Navy's review of MacNeil and others. While MacNeil was the junior member of his platoon and eventually testified against Gallagher, he exercised poor judgement as an officer and should not be promoted within the U.S. military.
In March 2023, Thomas M. Siverts appeared on an episode of a podcast known as “The Berm Pit,” which is antisemitic and racist. Siverts's participation in a podcast whose hosts espouse such bigotry raises serious questions about his character and professionalism, which are both relevant to his promotion to brigadier general. To date, the Marine Corps has not provided me with a copy of this podcast episode to verify the nature of his participation in this podcast, nor has Siverts publicly apologized or expressed regret for his association with this podcast.