2 Feb 2021
The Pentagon on Tuesday announced a sweeping review of all of its advisory committees, due to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s concern over last minute appointees under the Trump administration.
The Pentagon also announced that all activity by the more than 40 committees and its hundreds of members would be suspended during the review.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Tuesday at a briefing:
The secretary was deeply concerned with the pace and the extent of recent changes to memberships have Department Advisory Committees and this review will allow him now to quickly get his arms around the purpose of these boards and to make sure the advisory committees are in fact providing the best possible advice to department leadership.
Austin fired all members serving on DOD advisory boards and also ordered “the immediate suspension of all advisory committee operations until the review is completed,” effective Feb. 16. The boards are on hold while the Pentagon completes a “zero-based review” of at least 42 defense advisory committees, according to a Jan. 30 memo.
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The review includes the more visible Defense Policy Board, Defense Science Board and Defense Business Board, as well as former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller’s four choices to serve on the congressionally mandated commission tasked with renaming Confederate-named military bases, a senior Defense official told reporters.
Austin’s message: “Advisory committees have and will continue to provide an important role in shaping public policy within DoD. That said, our stewardship responsibilities require that we continually assess to ensure each advisory committee provides appropriate value today and in the future, a
As Nimitz heads home, questions arise about carrier presence in Middle East February 3 As the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group makes its way out of Central Command and into Indo-Pacific Command during a deployment now heading into its 10th month, discussion is once again turning to the necessity of back-to-back carrier deployments to the Middle East. The Nimitz, which has now entered U.S. 7th Fleet waters, had originally been scheduled to make its way home early in the new year, before then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller extended its deployment in U.S. 5th Fleet due to theats from Iran. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed off on the carrier’s redeployment, USNI News reported Tuesday. It’s been 10 months since the Nimitz left Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, continuing the 2020 trend of extra-long deployments for Navy ships, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Nimitz’ departure naturally raises the question of what’s next.
Biden Pentagon chief says no, thank you to Trump s parting advisory board appointees Print this article
The recommendations of a slew of last-minute Defense Department advisers put in place by former President Donald Trump will not see the light of day after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled their appointments.
Traditionally nonpartisan, volunteer boards that had included technical and diplomatic experts such as Henry Kissinger were dumped in the final days of the Trump presidency in favor of former campaign advisers and Republican Party stalwarts.
Austin opted against moving forward with those eleventh-hour Trump appointees, suspending all Pentagon advisory board activities until June 1 while a review is conducted. He has asked the members of those panels to resign or be dismissed by Feb. 16.