News : Biden’s Pentagon pick in flux as transition begins — Confederate naming issue splits Democrats

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Biden’s Pentagon pick in flux as transition begins — Confederate naming issue splits Democrats — A smaller Army?

Nov 24, 2020

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With Connor O'Brien

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Quick Fix

— Michele Flournoy has competition for the top Pentagon job, as people close to the president-elect say he is not yet sold and scrutiny grows over her corporate ties.

— Democrats wrangle over whether to give priority to changing Confederate base names or getting a bipartisan defense bill passed quickly.

— The Army chief says the service needs to prepare to do more with less in the coming budget battles.

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On the Hill

DEMOCRATS SPLIT OVER BASE NAMING PROVISION: An internal fight over renaming military bases that honor Confederates has broken out among House Democrats, threatening the National Defense Authorization Act, POLITICO's Heather Caygle, Connor O'Brien and Sarah Ferris report.

The splinter is whether to axe the language to ensure the $740 billion bill is passed on time, or force a showdown with the GOP and President Donald Trump, who has threatened to veto the bill if the name change provision stays in there.

"There's a disagreement among members on this," said Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland, a top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and member of the Congressional Black Caucus. "If there was ever a reason to delay the reauthorization until we get it right, it certainly would be one of them."

But Rep. Adam Smith, chair of the Armed Services Committee, said he's not giving in. "I have no intention whatsoever of dropping this in order to get a bill passed," he said on Monday. "We'll have to see what offers are made and what's out there."

Top Democrats agreed on a call Sunday that preserving the language is paramount and Smith and Brown are working on a potential compromise language that maintains the integrity of the provision but that Republicans will also support.

Army

REALITY CHECK: Is the Army about to take a hit in the defense budget battles next year? Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville is preparing for it.

In response to a question from POLITICO about whether the service will have to do with less as the Air Force and Navy beef up for operations in the Asia-Pacific, McConville told the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that the ground pounders will likely have to take on additional risk.

"Well, I think we've done studies, we've done testimony. I said about active duty, probably about 540,000 to 550,000. We're not going to get that," McConville said. "I can tell you right now, quite frankly. We don't have the resources right now, and we've been very well-resourced. So, if we want to modernize and keep the Army ready, then the end-strength will not grow to that level."

"That doesn't mean we don't need it," he added. "But again, people are going to talk about cutting end-strength, or flattening end-strength. I think that what we can afford and what we probably need … is high 400,000s. … We could probably live with that and do what we need to do, if we have the right forces in place and we're very efficient and effective."

"I think as we start to come below those numbers, we accept a risk that I would not recommend as chief staff of the Army."

Related: Opinion: U.S. national security policy in the 117th Congress and a new administration, via The Hill.

Transition 2020

A 'DREAM TEAM'? President-elect Joe Biden on Monday formally announced a handful of veteran national security and foreign policy hands to fill top posts in his administration, POLITICO's Quint Forgey reports:

— Antony Blinken , his top foreign policy adviser and former deputy secretary of State, for secretary of State.

— Jake Sullivan, another top adviser and former State Department official, to be national security adviser.

— Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban-American lawyer who served as deputy secretary of Homeland Security, to be the first Latino secretary of Homeland Security.

— Avril Haines, the former deputy director of the CIA, to be the first female director of national intelligence.

— Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat, to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

— John Kerry, the former secretary of State, to be special presidential envoy for climate.

Sullivan and Kerry don't require Senate confirmation.

The appointment of Kerry, who negotiated the 2015 Paris climate accord, "marks the first time" the National Security Council will include an official dedicated to climate change. That demonstrates Biden's "commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue," the transition said in a statement.

The reaction from the foreign policy community was almost uniformly positive. "Our national security community is breathing a major sigh of relief today," tweeted George Little, a former Pentagon and CIA spokesperson.

Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, called it a "national security dream team," applauding Biden for "assembling a team of highly competent and experienced leaders to restore the soul of our nation and rebuild America's vital alliances around the world."

The left wasn't exactly thrilled. "Specifically, we have concerns regarding these nominees' varying connection to past policies such as the invasions of Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011, collaboration with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in their horrific intervention in Yemen, and the targeted killing and torture programs," said Stephen Miles and Sara Haghdoosti, the executive director and deputy director of the umbrella group Win Without War, in a statement. "Additionally, any financial ties by nominees to the defense industry raise ethics concerns which must be addressed."

Related: 9 things to know about Tony Blinken, via POLITICO's David Herszenhorn and Rym Momtaz.

And: What Trump and Dick Cheney got wrong about America, via Jake Sullivan in The Atlantic.

'THE ROAD TO THE SITUATION ROOM': Any disclosure of financial ties would likely begin with WestExec Advisors, the consulting firm Flournoy co-founded with Blinken in 2017, your Morning D correspondent and Theodoric Meyer report.

The website for WestExec Advisors includes a map depicting West Executive Avenue, the secure road on the White House grounds between the West Wing and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, as a way to show what the consulting firm can do for its clients.

"It is, quite literally, the road to the Situation Room, and it is the road everyone associated with WestExec Advisors has crossed many times en route to meetings of the highest national security consequences," the firm says.

Haines, the DNI pick, is also a former consultant and the firm is loaded with other top Democratic national security and foreign policy officials who raised money for the Biden campaign, have joined his transition team, or have served as unofficial advisers.

But little is known about its client list. Such high-powered Washington consulting firms are "the unintended consequence" of greater disclosure requirements for registered lobbyists, said Mandy Smithberger, director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight.

By not directly advocating for federal dollars on behalf of their clients, they don't have to publicly divulge who is paying them and for what activities, such as the connections they make with government agencies, she said. But it is also impossible to assess the influence they have on federal expenditures.

"They avoid becoming registered lobbyists or foreign agents and are instead becoming strategic consultants," she said.

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FLOURNOY'S FATE: When will Biden settle on a secretary of Defense? A number of Biden watchers were a little surprised that Flournoy wasn't part of the Monday rollout, given how so many considered her a lock for the post.

While Flournoy is still a strong contender, six people close to the transition said Biden is not entirely sold, our colleagues Lara Seligman and Natasha Bertrand report, with an assist from your Morning D correspondent. They said another top contender is Jeh Johnson, the Obama administration's second secretary of Homeland Security, the people said. He would be the first Black Defense secretary in an administration that has promised a diverse Cabinet.

But don't pay too much attention to the sequencing of the Cabinet rollout, advised Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, which was co-founded by Flournoy.

"We shouldn't read too much into the timing," he said. "In its short tenure, this is already shaping up as a deliberate and careful transition team. I'm certain we'll know the next round of appointees soon enough."

But progressives also had more questions. "Flournoy supported the war in Iraq & Libya, criticized Obama on Syria, and helped craft the surge in Afghanistan," tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna, who was a co-chair of Bernie Sanders ' campaign for the White House. "I want to support the President's picks. But will Flournoy now commit to a full withdrawal from Afghanistan & a ban on arms sales to the Saudis to end the Yemen war?"

ICYMI: Biden and Flournoy have clashed over policy in the past, via Foreign Policy.

'IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR COUNTRY': Trump finally gave the go ahead on Monday for the General Services Administration to officially begin the transition process.

The president still insisted that his long-shot legal challenges to the election outcome will prevail, but he said in a tweet that "in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily [Murphy] and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same."

The Pentagon issued a statement Monday night that it "has been contacted by the Biden-Harris team " and "will begin immediately implementing our plan to provide support."

"DoD is prepared to provide post-election services and support in a professional, orderly, and efficient manner that is befitting of the public's expectation of the Department and our commitment to national security," department spokesperson Sue Gough said in a statement.

Related: Biden builds out legislative affairs team, via POLITICO's Megan Cassella.

TRACK THE TRANSITION: President-elect Biden has started to form a Cabinet and announce his senior White House staff. The appointments and staffing decisions made in the coming days send clear-cut signals about Biden's priorities. Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today.

Speed Read

— Defense in Depth, by Jim Mattis and other foreign policy experts: Foreign Affairs

— Israel's Netanyahu, Saudi crown prince hold first known meeting: The Wall Street Journal

— China lashes out at U.S. over withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty: The Associated Press

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