Lloyd Austin after being nominated by President-elect Joe Biden in Delaware on Dec. 9
WASHINGTON: The presumptive Defense Secretary went to great lengths today to assure senators he would ensure civilian control of the military at every level, tackling head-on criticism about the erosion of the civilian control of the military that has held a sacrosanct place in the American system of governance.
Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, who will require a waiver to be allowed to serve — he has not been retired from the Army for the requisite seven years — told the Senate Armed Services Committee that “military advice will inform but it will not dominate my thinking.”
Under Trump’s two Defense Secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark Esper, the Joint Staff was perceived to grow in influence and importance in crafting policy, which alarmed many in the policymaking community.
Austin pledged to turn that around. “The safety and security of our democracy demands competent civilian control of our armed forces, the subordination of military power to the civil,” he said. In particular, he said he would ensure the top role of the Office of Secretary of Defense. “I think it’s imperative that the OSD staff maintain primacy in terms of crafting strategy and policy.” He plans to install “the right people who have the right experiences and who are not afraid to provide their input,” to the uniformed Joint Staff. “I will empower them to make sure they have the flexibility to get the job done” to begin to “rebalance the workload between the Joint Staff and the Secretariat.”
He pointed out that the incoming administration has already nominated Kath Hicks as deputy secretary of Defense and Colin Kahl as undersecretary of policy — both highly respected officials who worked in top positions in the Obama administration.
Hicks, in particular, would likely play a key role for Austin running the Pentagon’s modernization efforts, while being treated as a “‘full partner’ with me in decision-making, setting policy, and running the Department,” he said. “If confirmed, I would expect the Deputy to be – more often than not – the last person in the room with me before I make an important decision,” Austin wrote in his answers.
Strategically, Austin pledged to publish a new National Defense Strategy in 2022, updating the 2018 version. That report, produced by then-secretary Jim Mattis, is considered a landmark in American strategy and re-oriented Washington’s focus on a rising China.
But the most immediate issue to tackle is wrangling the federal response to COVID-19, which was slow to develop, and slow to administer the vaccine to the public. “The most urgent challenge we face is the pandemic” Austin wrote. “I will immediately review DOD’s support to the broader U.S. government effort and increase the speed and scale of our support.”
Austin said today the plan forged by Mattis remains “absolutely on track” but that DoD should “work to update the strategy.” In written responses to questions submitted by senators before the hearing, the retired general put it simply: “China is the top priority. I am also concerned about transnational threats as the security landscape evolves (e.g., amid COVID-19) and believe that our defense strategy must adapt accordingly. As required by law, if confirmed I will review the NDS and where necessary revise or update it in the 2022 National Defense Strategy.”
His comments and those by Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier in the day put China at the top of global threats. That should assuage some worries in Washington that the incoming administration would not meet the China challenge head on. In fact, Blinken praised the Trump Administration’s handling of China.
“There is no doubt” China “poses the most significant challenge of any nation state to the United States,” Blinken said. “We have to start by approaching China from a position of strength, not weakness. The good news is our ability to do that is largely within our control—a position of strength is when we are working with and not denigrating our allies.”
The message from both men followed a similar line, marking China as the biggest challenge facing the military and diplomatic leaders of the incoming administration. Precisely because of the China threat, Austin stressed the importance of relying on and supporting allies in the region to step up their own effort with American support. In written responses to questions, Austin also hammered home the importance of allies around the world, calling them America’s “strategic advantage our competitors cannot match, but it is one that has been undermined in recent years due to inconsistent statements about U.S. commitments, seemingly erratic decision making, and insufficient consultation on important issues. If we take our allies for granted, we squander our greatest strategic asset; we must rebuild and modernize our alliances and partnerships.”
The retired general appeared to be on the way to confirmation, so long as Congress votes to grant him the waiver he needs to serve. Today’s hearing did little to call that into question. And the leader of the House Armed Services Committee, which must also grant Austin a waiver to serve, said today he’d support Austin’s nomination.
One senator who will not support Austin is Republican Tom Cotton, who supported granting a waiver to Mattis in 2016. “I supported the waiver for Gen. Mattis, with reservations, four years ago, which I quickly came to view as a mistake, and I have since regretted, for that matter,” he said. “Under no foreseeable circumstances can I imagine supporting such a waiver again.” Cotton, who served as an Army officer, said his objection wasn’t to Austin or his qualifications, but it is to the principle of civilian control of the military.
