Senator Dan Sullivan was one of two speakers to introduce Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star Army general, at his confirmation hearing to serve as the next Secretary of Defense on Tuesday. The other speaker introducing Austin was Leon Panetta, who previously served as defense secretary and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
In his introductory remarks, Sullivan urged his Senate colleagues to approve a waiver of the National Security Act of 1947, which requires retired uniformed service members to wait seven years before being eligible to serve as defense secretary, and to support Austin’s nomination. Sullivan and Austin both served in the Middle East between 2005-2006.
Sullivan said: “Mr. Austin is fully committed to the constitutional principle of civilian control of our military – something that those who serve in uniform typically understand and revere more than those who don’t. In that regard, I thought some of the testimony from our recent hearing on this important topic was a bit simplistic, with discussions about so-called “military logic.” So let me play devil’s advocate. The very nature of this confirmation hearing is evidence that civilian control of the military is not at risk in America. I believe the related, but opposite problem should be of more concern today – no military experience in the top ranks of our government.”
He continued with criticism of the Biden security team selections: “With the exception of Mr. Austin, no nominee on the incoming Biden national security team has ever served in uniform. With regard to the entire Biden cabinet, only one other nominee has any military experience at all. This is not wise. If confirmed, I’m sure I won’t agree with all of Mr. Austin’s decisions. But when the inevitable budget battles occur, it will be critical for our nation’s security and military members to have a secretary of defense who understands firsthand the very real morale and readiness problems that result from drastic cuts to our military.”