Biden Set to Name Non-Democrat Non-Civilian as Secretary of Defense

Membership Ticker

Please don’t miss this chance

We’ve been offered a $50,000 digital matching gift by a generous board member, and we need your help to make sure we get every dollar of it. Any donation you make online this month will be matched dollar-for-dollar. You know the stakes in this all-important election season. And the fearless, kickass, truth-telling reporting Americans need doesn’t pay for itself. Please chip in right now with any amount if you can.

General Lloyd Austin in 2016, shortly before his retirement from the Army.Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Oh man, I hate this so much:

SCOOP: It’s done—Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to lead the Pentagon, and will announce his nomination tomorrow. w/@laraseligman @tylerpager @connorobrienNH https://t.co/PidjAhC9AQ

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 7, 2020

I have literally never heard of Lloyd Austin before now, so obviously I have nothing personal against him. But there are two problems here. First, civilians should ultimately control the Pentagon. Trump broke this tradition with James Mattis and Biden should have firmly reestablished it. Second, a Democratic president should appoint Democrats to lead the Defense Department. Not Bill Cohen. Not Robert Gates. Not Chuck Hagel. And not Lloyd Austin. Democrats need to stop feeding the longtime Republican insinuation that people can’t trust the Mommy Party to run our wars.

This is not the biggest thing in the world. It’s just a longtime pet peeve of mine. If Democrats won’t stand up for civilian Democrats to run the Pentagon, who will?