WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered hundreds of Pentagon advisory board members to resign this month as part of an extensive panel review, essentially purging several dozen people appointed at the last minute. under the Trump administration.
During the last two months of his tenure, former Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller removed several longtime members of various defense, health, science, and business policy councils and replaced many with loyalists from the former President Donald Trump. More than 30 of those replacements will be forced to resign, including former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, retired brigade. General Anthony Tata and former Trump campaign director Corey Lewandowski.
“I direct the immediate suspension of all advisory committee operations until the review is completed, unless I myself or the deputy secretary of defense indicate otherwise,” Austin said in a note released Tuesday. And he ordered all members of the committee appointed by the secretary of defense to resign before February 16th.
Austin said the review will assess whether each council provides value and ensure its approach aligns with “our most pressing strategic priorities and the National Defense Strategy.”
Tata, a former Fox News commentator, failed to get Senate confirmation for the most important Pentagon policy job early last year because of his offensive statements, including on Islam. In November, however, Trump appointed him to the same position, just days after he fired then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and integrated Miller into the job.
Miller appointed Tata to the Defense Policy Board on Jan. 19, his last full day on the job. Gingrich was appointed to this same board. Lewandowski was appointed a member of the Defense Business Board.
A senior defense official said Austin’s decision was driven by Miller’s frantic activity to eliminate dozens of board members and replace them in such a short period of time between the loss of Trump’s election and the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Of the 42 advisory panels listed in Austin’s note, 31 will eliminate their members, six will be part of the review, but their members will remain and another five have no members at this time or have completed their membership. business. Among the 31 are some of the department’s best-known councils, including those with expertise in defense policy, science, health, innovation, Arlington National Cemetery, and women in the military.
Together there are more than 600 members on the 42 boards. Defense officials said they do not know exactly how many are being asked to resign, but there will be hundreds.
Visiting boards of the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies will retain their members, because they are presidential appointments that Austin does not have the authority to override. Among those nominated by Trump who will remain on these boards are his former press secretary Sean Spicer and longtime adviser Kellyanne Conway. These tips, however, will be subject to review.
A new four-member congressional congressional committee that Miller appointed in early January is also being purged. The group has not yet begun its work, but will be tasked with figuring out how to rename military bases and properties that honor Confederate leaders. The group is not subject to a wider Austin review, but intends to appoint four new members.
In a letter to Austin this week, U.S. Representatives Anthony Brown, D-Md., And Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, called for the removal of Miller’s four nominees to the name change board. Trump had opposed the renaming of the bases and cited it as a reason to veto the defense bill, which included a provision establishing the group to manage the process.
“Those who are called to serve their nation on this issue must have a deep understanding and experience in the history of Confederate monuments and their role in the white supremacist movement,” Brown and Beatty wrote in Austin.
The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Austin believed stopping the activity of all boards and conducting a more intense review was the fairest and most consistent process.
Officials said the review will examine whether councils have overlapping jurisdictions and whether they should be reallocated or whether money could be saved by cutting some of them. It will also make recommendations on the balance of members, the size and mission of all boards.