{"id":51550,"date":"2020-11-30T21:36:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T21:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/30\/after-trump-congress-could-chafe-at-retired-officers-leading-the-pentagon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:45:21","slug":"after-trump-congress-could-chafe-at-retired-officers-leading-the-pentagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2020\/11\/30\/after-trump-congress-could-chafe-at-retired-officers-leading-the-pentagon\/","title":{"rendered":"After Trump, Congress could chafe at retired officers leading the Pentagon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 As President-elect Joe Biden waits to name his secretary of defense, the prospect of selecting a retired general officer is raising alarms about the civil-military balance at the top of the department \u2013 and questions about whether Congress would grant such clearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For months, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2020\/11\/08\/michele-flournoy-could-become-the-first-woman-to-run-the-pentagon-heres-what-would-change\/\">Mich\u00e8le Flournoy<\/a>, the former undersecretary of defense for policy and Center for a New American Security co-founder, was expected to be nominated as the first woman to lead the Pentagon. But the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2020\/11\/24\/no-secdef-pick-from-biden-as-flournoy-hits-resistance-from-progressives\/\"> delay<\/a> has fueled speculation that Biden is looking elsewhere, potentially to former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson or Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat and wounded Iraq War veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/biden-defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-1af4a702-aaf2-4e9e-9f5f-3ece6a9ff362.html\">reported<\/a> that Biden\u2019s short list includes Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star Army general who led U.S. Central Command from 2013-2016. NBC News, meanwhile,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2020-election\/michele-flournoy-would-be-first-woman-run-pentagon-may-bring-n1248686\"> reported<\/a> that Michelle Howard, a retired four-star Navy admiral, is under consideration for secretary of the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2020\/11\/26\/congressmembers-former-officials-surge-to-support-flournoy-as-bidens-defense-head\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/flournoy_peace.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Lawmakers, former officials surge support for Flournoy to be Biden\u2019s defense secretary<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">As speculation mounts that Biden may look elsewhere, supporters are flooding to back Mich\u00e8le Flournoy, long seen as the presumptive nominee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Biden plans to nominate either individual, or any other recently retired officer, it would require he seek a congressional waiver, which may be difficult to win from a divided Congress and amid pressures from inside Biden\u2019s own party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The talk comes not only after the Trump administration was criticized for relying too heavily on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/01\/17\/trump-blasted-top-military-generals-as-a-bunch-of-dopes-and-babies-according-to-new-book\/\">retired generals<\/a> to fill top roles in his administration, but amid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/11\/12\/military-wary-that-shakeup-could-upend-its-apolitical-nature\/\">concern<\/a> about maintaining the military\u2019s apolitical nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Title 10 of the United States Code, the defense secretary is among nine Senate-confirmed roles at the Pentagon that would require a waiver if the nominee has been a military officer in the last seven years. For the three service secretary positions, the nominee must be retired for at least five years or receive a waiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The waiver requires approval by Senate and House majorities, and the president\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because Austin retired in May 2016, he would need a Congressional waiver to become secretary of defense; however, if Biden was interested in pushing Austin for a service secretary role, he could wait until May of this year to nominate him without needing the waiver vote. Howard, who retired in Dec. 2017, would need a waiver for the Navy secretary job anytime before December, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2017\/01\/13\/us-congress-passes-waiver-for-mattis-to-lead-pentagon\/\">granted<\/a> a waiver to Jim Mattis, the retired four-star who became President Donald Trump\u2019s first secretary of defense in 2017, today\u2019s political headwinds suggest a more complicated path for another such move. Then, lawmakers balanced their fears of eroding civilian control of the military against some unique circumstances: Trump had no government experience and Mattis was a trusted and well-regarded figure in national security circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though the Senate easily approved the waiver, 81-17, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the influential ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said then that his support was a one-time thing for an extraordinary figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCongress has enacted an exception one time since the creation of the Department of Defense,\u201d Reed said then, citing the case of George Marshall in 1950. \u201cAnd waiving the law should happen no more than once in a generation. Therefore, I will not support a waiver for future nominees. Nor will I support any effort to water down or repeal the statute in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The House voted 268-151, with only 36 Democrats voting yes. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., voiced procedural concerns that could be the bar for him to clear a waiver today: The Trump transition <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2017\/01\/13\/trump-benched-mattis-before-his-house-hearing-what-happened\/\">blocked Mattis from testifying<\/a> on civilian control of the military and HASC wasn\u2019t given a chance to mark up the waiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we should do is say, \u2018We will not change the law for you until Gen. Mattis appears before us,\u2019\u201d said Smith, now House Armed Services Committee chairman, adding: \u201cEven during the Obama administration, I have spoken out when they have ignored the authority of this committee &#8230; It\u2019s not just about, for me anyway, what party the person happens to be in. It\u2019s about the authority of this committee, and we\u2019re abdicating it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1984\" height=\"1188\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/snodgrass-mattis-book.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33027\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/snodgrass-mattis-book.jpg.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/snodgrass-mattis-book.jpg.jpg?resize=300,180 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/snodgrass-mattis-book.jpg.jpg?resize=768,460 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/snodgrass-mattis-book.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,613 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/snodgrass-mattis-book.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,920 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1984px) 100vw, 1984px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and President Donald Trump are shown on the cover of retired Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass&#8217;s memoir of his time as Mattis&#8217;s speechwriter. The book goes on sale Oct. 29. (Penguin Random House).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Logistics and concerns<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are logistical problems confronting a hypothetical waiver, if Biden wishes to follow tradition and have a secretary in place on Inauguration Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While stressing that he was not commenting on the ability of any potential nominees, Arnold Punaro, a former SASC staff director and retired Marine Corps general officer, called the path to an Inauguration Day swearing-in \u201chighly problematic,\u201d because there is not enough time in the lame duck session and with the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/election-2020-senate-elections-georgia-coronavirus-pandemic-elections-dc60d44f729dbb4d551a049fc9935b98\">uncertainty<\/a> of Senate control in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen Gen. Mattis got his waiver, you had Republican control of both the House and Senate and they were able to pass it and have it signed the day of the Inauguration, which is the first day Biden can actually submit a nomination,\u201d Punaro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSecond, these are those who don\u2019t think it worked out that well having a retired four-star and also those who believe there are far too many retired military serving in key political appointments in the Pentagon right now,\u201d he added. \u201cSo it appears to me that both the clock and the substance would work against a Jan. 20th date or a waiver for others, and I don\u2019t think the new administration would want to have a delay in a new SecDef being appointed on Jan. 20th.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which gets to the broader question of whether Biden should be pursuing retired officers for top jobs at all, following several years of experts warning that the civil-military balance at the department has become disjointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On paper, civilians in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/05\/25\/senate-wants-to-empower-pentagons-policy-chief-as-enforcer\/\">supposed to drive the policy<\/a> with inputs from the Joint Staff; in reality, there has been a slide toward the Joint Staff pushing policy, which grew under Mattis, a former Marine Corps general who relied more on the uniformed officials than civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jim Golby, a senior fellow with the Clements Center who studies civ-mil issues, says the issue of civilian control is \u201cabsolutely\u201d more exacerbated now than in the past, citing a \u201cdocumented trend\u201d of power shifting from OSD to the joint staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the factors, Golby said, is the number of acting officials who have filled spots during the Trump administration, the close relationship between Mattis and then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joe Dunford, and other small changes in processes and policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Joint Staff accumulated some bad habits in their ability to operate more autonomously than they normally would,\u201d Golby said. \u201cWhen you combine all these things and look at these trends, and say if we want to establish this kind of control at the Pentagon, now is a time when you would actually really want a strong civilian to come in \u201cand take over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jack Shanahan, who recently retired as a three-star Air Force officer, also raised questions about whether former officers are fitted for civilian roles in a Nov. 27<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Fermat15\/status\/1332436529600475141\"> Twitter thread<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is a four star who provides best military advice to the SecDef. Adding a retired [four star officer as secretary] tilts the balance towards the military, as much as that Secretary would claim otherwise,\u201d Shanahan tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe analogy would be to suggest placing a retired politician or Ambassador as the commander of one of the Combatant Commands. Nobody in the military would buy that idea. Why then is it ok for a retired four star to run the Department of Defense? Stars are not fungible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getting a congressional waiver let Jim Mattis lead the Pentagon. Getting another waiver might be more difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":131,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,36,30,131],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3378,3446],"class_list":["post-51550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-smr","category-transition"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"G24IKK54UZB2FK3CAJVBXOIIBU","arc_canonical_url":"\/smr\/transition\/2020\/11\/30\/after-trump-congress-could-chafe-at-retired-officers-leading-the-pentagon\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>After Trump, Congress could chafe at retired officers leading the Pentagon - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Getting a congressional waiver let Jim Mattis lead the Pentagon. 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