{"id":41648,"date":"2020-11-12T23:25:47","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T23:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/12\/after-firings-and-turnover-national-security-community-wonders-whats-next\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:25:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:25:05","slug":"after-firings-and-turnover-national-security-community-wonders-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2020\/11\/12\/after-firings-and-turnover-national-security-community-wonders-whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"After firings and turnover, national security community wonders: What\u2019s next?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The unprecedented removal<\/a> of top Pentagon officials during a presidential transition has left the national security community reeling, wondering who will be the next to go and struggling to understand why it is happening at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the theories discussed by national security experts and concerned Democrats alike: that the firings are a play to accelerate the removal of troops in Afghanistan or, more skeptically, to use the military to subvert the election results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third option, however, is also floating among Washington circles: that the exits of Defense Secretary Mark Esper<\/a> and several other key officials stem from personal politics that have been commonplace during the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An administration official, who asked not to be named because of the political sensitivities, attributed the overhaul to John McEntee, the director of the Presidential Personnel Office, who has reportedly been working for months to quash perceived disloyalty within the administration. A Washington Post columnist tweeted<\/a> McEntee is also behind exits at the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the churn really isn\u2019t about policy,\u201d the official said, adding that National Security Adviser Robert O\u2019Brien has been left out of the decision making. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting revenge on the people they consider \u2018never Trump.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s Monday firing of Esper, replacing him with Christopher Miller, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, was already extraordinary for a transition period, and made more unusual because the job did not go to Deputy Secretary David Norquist. (For now, Norquist remains on the job.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the situation escalated Tuesday, when Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Joseph Kernan and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Anderson submitted their resignations, in moves that were reportedly directed by White House staff. Esper\u2019s chief of staff, Jen Stewart, was also pushed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping into those roles are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who entered the Trump administration<\/a> with National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, replaced Kernan in an acting capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Anthony Tata, a retired Army brigadier general and Fox News guest who was placed in the Pentagon amid controversy over his inflammatory remarks<\/a>, will be performing the duties held by Anderson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Kash Patel, a former National Security Council official who rose to prominence<\/a> by helping House Republicans during the investigation into ties between Trump and Russia, has been named Miller\u2019s chief of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patel is \u201crunning the show,\u201d and Cohen-Watnick is \u201cvery influential over there now,\u201d the administration source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While speculation swirls about who is next \u2014 reports have named acquisition head Ellen Lord<\/a>, the longest-serving political appointee at the department, as well as Chief Management Officer Lisa Hershman \u2014 other moves with less prominent leaders are also taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Charles D. Cowan, a Trump appointee at Housing and Urban Development, arrived on Monday as the new deputy chief management officer, Defense News has learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Alexis Ross, a deputy chief of staff for Esper, was also let go with Stewart. However, Ross may end up staying in the Pentagon in another role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Mark Tomb, Anderson\u2019s deputy chief of staff, was also let go Wednesday, according to Foreign Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 And retired Col. Douglas Macgregor, a major proponent of Afghanistan withdrawal, has been placed as an adviser to Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead Democrats on the congressional defense committees have been critical of the moves, citing a risk to national security and claiming the changes project chaos and instability to adversaries around the world at a time when the United States should project calm and order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf this is the beginning of a trend \u2014 the president either firing or forcing out national security professionals in order to replace them with people perceived as more loyal to him \u2014 then the next 70 days will be precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst,\u201d Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said in a statement Tuesday. He added that Trump\u2019s \u201csingular obsession with loyalty has severely undermined the competence of our government and made us less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday evening, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., told a Fox News reporter<\/a> that the administration had indicated the personnel changes at the Pentagon have finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afghanistan awareness<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The addition of Macgregor in particular has raised alarms in some defense circles. His presence has been<\/a> marked by some<\/a> as a portent that Trump will try to force a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan \u2014 perhaps by Christmas<\/a>, a goal Trump has tweeted about in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine general and former staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee, highlighted troop movements as one area that could take place in the remaining 69 days of the Trump administration \u2015 whether or not it makes for good policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat can presidents do without the Congress? They can deploy troops and they can remove troops,\u201d Punaro said. \u201cIf the president decides to complete what\u2019s said about a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the Middle East, he certainly has ample time to enforce that order, send that to the acting secretary of defense, who would send that to the combatant commanders to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic-controlled House Armed Services Committee on Thursday announced a hearing on the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan. No current administration officials are expected to testify, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the changes, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, used a Wednesday speech to offer a reminder that the military should remain apolitical<\/a> at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing beside Miller, he spoke about the military\u2019s nonpartisan traditions and duty to protect and defend the Constitution, \u201cregardless of personal price.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are unique among militaries,\u201d Milley said. \u201cWe do not take an oath to a king or a queen, a tyrant or a dictator. We do not take an oath to an individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Gans, a former Pentagon speechwriter and author of a history<\/a> on the National Security Council, warned the placement of new civilians in the department means Milley now \u201cwill find himself far more isolated in dealing with the White House and serving as a source of continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe will have to keep an eye on what these gentlemen are up to \u2014 and many have established track records for mischief \u2014 think about what they\u2019re reporting back to the president, and consider their backseat driving as he gives advice to the president,\u201d Gans added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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