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On Tuesday, Biden announced the appointment of General Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense in a lengthy post in The Atlantic titled: “Why I Choose Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense.” In the post, Biden justified the nomination by saying that America “needs a leader who is tested and ready to take on the challenges we face.”
Austin, 67, was in the military from 1975 until he retired in 2016. Biden has known him the least since he led US and allied forces in Iraq when Biden was vice president. Austin has also been stationed in Afghanistan.
Yet this moment of speed makes US expert and senior researcher at the Department of Defense Studies, Svein Melby, react.
The next president Joe Biden nominated retired four-star general Lloyd J. Austin as Secretary of Defense. “I think it’s a political mistake and I think Austin is unlikely to get approved by the Senate,” Melby tells Dagbladet.
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– Quite objectionable
To pass, Congress must grant Austin a waiver from the requirement that former military personnel must have lived as civilians for at least seven years before they can become secretaries of defense. The waiver has only been granted twice, most recently when former Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis was named President Donald Trump’s first secretary of defense.
Mattis was granted an exemption because many Democrats were positive about him and thought he could act as a counterweight to Trump’s impulsiveness and lack of foreign policy experience. But this is not the situation for Biden, who has long and extensive experience in foreign policy issues, says Melby.
Melby believes that clear boundaries must be established between civilian and military leadership in the Pentagon.
– The fundamental principle of any democracy is that the Armed Forces, which in this case is the Pentagon, must be governed by a civilian political leadership. It is also quite reprehensible when Biden has criticized Trump for breaking important institutional principles time and again, that some of the first things he does are of the same caliber, the lead researcher tells Dagbladet.
SOLID MILITARY EXPERIENCE: Lloyd Austin’s long military career may lead to opposition in Congress and some members of the defense community, who support clear boundaries between civilian and military leadership at the Pentagon. Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / AFP / NTB
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NATO also sets strict requirements for the countries with which they cooperate and takes as a criterion that the military power of the countries is reserved for the political, says Melby. He believes the nomination will shape upcoming hearings and debates in Congress, and will face opposition from several Democrats.
– At least this doesn’t sound good. Biden has been good to qualified defense politicians that he could choose for office. Obviously, you have emphasized personal relationships with the main people you will appoint to these central and important positions. Now, with Republican support, it may be crucial to pass the nomination, says Melby.
– I think it’s happening
The principal investigator of the Norce research center in Bergen, Hilmar Mjelde, is somewhat more optimistic in his analysis.
– I think he (Austin, journ.anm.) Passes. The United States has a long tradition of generals in civilian positions. Several presidents, ministers, and most recently a chief of staff and security adviser who has had a past as a general. Generals are chosen because they are believed to be skilled leaders, Mjelde tells Dagbladet.
However, Mjelde highlights the challenges in appointing former military men as political leaders.
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– The rules and incentive structures of politics are completely different from those of the hierarchical system of the military. There is no automaticity in a military leader becoming a good political leader. In fact, all recent generals have encountered major difficulties on the job at times, especially Colin Powell (former secretary of state, journal.anm.) And John Kelly (former Trump chief of staff, journal.anm.), Says lead researcher , but continues:
– I think that in principle it is fine with a Minister of Defense with experience in the army, because the position of Minister of Defense is still a civilian position, even if it is held by a former general.
Mjelde believes that there is too much attention to the ministers.
– They do not have a decision-making authority independent of the president. The president gets the policy he wants, regardless of who the ministers are.
