{"id":62147,"date":"2021-01-19T22:06:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T22:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:38:11","slug":"austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President-elect Joe Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2021\/01\/19\/smith-touts-lloyd-austin-as-he-lobbies-democrats-to-back-waiver-for-defense-secretary-nominee\/\" target=_blank>pick for defense secretary<\/a> used his Tuesday appearance in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee to push back against concerns about civilian control of the military, as Congress prepares for an upcoming waiver vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lloyd Austin, who retired from the Army in 2016, would require a waiver from both the House and Senate to be able to serve as defense secretary. The issue has dominated the headlines around Austin since his nomination was announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the hearing, those concerns were articulated by Kori Schake, a former national security official in the George W. Bush administration who is currently with the American Enterprise Institute. Schake, who supported a waiver for former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (who co-authored a book with her) in 2016, argued in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2021-01-19\/senate-should-reject-joe-biden-s-pentagon-nominee-lloyd-austin?sref=w2PvAr1y\">Bloomberg column<\/a> that the situation is very different between the two men.<\/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\/congress\/2021\/01\/18\/general-education-what-austin-can-learn-from-mattis-rocky-relations-with-congress\/\" 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=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635780027143072790-gettyimages-488503420jpg.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\">General education: What Austin can learn from Mattis\u2019s rocky relationship with Congress<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Austin must work with Congress to win support for President-elect Joe Biden\u2019s national security budget and priorities.<\/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\">\u201cI would not have done so if I hadn\u2019t feared Donald Trump was a danger to constitutional governance domestically and to the liberal order internationally, and was surrounding himself with people manifestly unqualified for their positions and likely to be reckless in the performance of them. Thankfully, none of those conditions apply to the Biden administration,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo argue that if one supported a waiver for Mattis, one must also support one for Austin is to argue that Joe Biden poses no less a threat to our country than Donald Trump. That just isn\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, providing an introduction for Austin, said civilian-military concerns miss that Austin has previously shown he will defer to civilian leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe best military officers are those who understand the importance of civilian control, and Lloyd was one of those,\u201d Panetta said. \u201cI am absolutely confident that Lloyd Austin will follow in\u201d the tradition of civilian control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his part, Austin used his opening remarks to stress he will uphold civilian control \u201cas intended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI intend to surround myself with and empower experienced, capable civilians who will enable healthy civil-military relations, grounded in meaningful oversight,\u201d he said. \u201cIndeed, I plan to include the undersecretary of defense for policy in top decision-making meetings, ensuring strategic and operational decisions are informed by policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI will rebalance collaboration and coordination between the Joint Staff and the [Office of the Secretary of Defense] staff to ensure civilian input is integrated at every level of the process. And I will make clear my expectation that the Pentagon work hand-in-glove with the State Department, supporting the work of our diplomats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later in the hearing, Austin noted that the choices of Kathleen Hicks to be deputy secretary of defense and Colin Kahl to be undersecretary of policy will provide a strong basis for civilian control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou need to have the right people in the right positions [for the] decision-making process,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes all the difference in the world. &#8230; I will make sure that we staff the positions with the right people who have the right experiences and are not afraid to provide their input, and I will empower them to make sure they have the flexibility to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Specifically, Austin also pledged the \u201ckey billets\u201d on his staff will be filled by \u201cexperienced senior civilians\u201d as opposed to current or retired military officials who served with him at U.S. Central Command or elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the most part, Austin\u2019s comments seemed to mollify senators. One notable exception was Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Okla., who said he would oppose the waiver request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cotton, who stressed his decision had nothing to do with Austin as a person but rather the standard of having a recently retired leader confirmed to the top civilian job, said he had come to regret voting to give Mattis a waiver four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI 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,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cUpon further reading on the historical record, I now believe the waiver for [Gen. George Marshall] in 1950 was also a mistake. Under no foreseeable circumstances can I imagine supporting such a waiver again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier in the day, the House Armed Services Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2021\/01\/19\/hasc-scrapped-lloyd-austins-waiver-hearing\/\">scrapped a planned open hearing<\/a> for Jan. 21, an expected by not legally required step for Austin to receive a waiver from the House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":116781,"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"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,11,36,19,30,48,131],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3378],"class_list":["post-62147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-smr","category-the-americas","category-transition"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"N4XHVRGM2RAFZBAGQTNQJFHXPU","arc_canonical_url":"\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/","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>Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-19T22:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:38:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aaron Mehta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Aaron Mehta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-01-19T22:06:52+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:38:11+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 732,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Congress\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Global\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon\",\n\t                \"Special Multimedia Reports\",\n\t                \"The Americas\",\n\t                \"Transition\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-01-19T22:06:52+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:38:11+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/19\\\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Special Multimedia Reports\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"smr\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Transition\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/transition\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"transition\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon - Defense News","description":"Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon","og_description":"Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2021-01-19T22:06:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T00:38:11+00:00","author":"Aaron Mehta","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Aaron Mehta","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon","datePublished":"2021-01-19T22:06:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:38:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/"},"wordCount":732,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Congress","Daily News Roundup","Global","Newsletters","Pentagon","Special Multimedia Reports","The Americas","Transition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/","name":"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-19T22:06:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:38:11+00:00","description":"Lloyd Austin signaled that his core staff would be drawn from civilians, not his old U.S. Central Command team.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Special Multimedia Reports","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/","ad_zone":"smr"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Transition","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/transition\/","ad_zone":"transition"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Austin pledges to protect civilian leadership at Pentagon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/austin_smile.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62157,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62147\/revisions\/62157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62147"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=62147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}