The U.S. Senate has confirmed General Martin Dempsey to become the country's next top uniformed military officer.

Dempsey, who previously served as Army chief, will become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the end of September, when Admiral Mike Mullen is set to retire.

Senators confirmed Dempsey's nomination by voice vote on Tuesday before leaving on their month-long summer recess.

Lawmakers on Tuesday also approved the nominations of Navy Admiral James Winnefeld as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs and General Ray Odierno as the new Army chief of staff.

Along with newly appointed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Dempsey will be tasked with maintaining military readiness as Washington considers deep cuts in defense spending.

At his Senate confirmation hearing last week, Dempsey warned lawmakers against cutting too much from the nation's military budget, saying that cuts of $800 billion or more would be “extraordinarily difficult and very high risk.”

U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this earlier this year asked the Pentagon to cut $400 billion in defense spending over the next 12 years.

But the U.S. defense budget could see drastic cuts under the compromise debt ceiling bill passed Tuesday by Congress.

The bill calls for initial spending cuts of $900 billion, but also calls for a budget committee to find additional cuts of at least $1.5 trillion. If the committee fails to further reduce the deficit, automatic cuts across the government would be triggered. Among them would be the first reduction in Defense Department spending in decades.