The recommendations of a slew of last-minute Defense Department advisers put in place by former President Donald Trump will not see the light of day after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled their appointments.
Traditionally nonpartisan, volunteer boards that had included technical and diplomatic experts such as Henry Kissinger were dumped in the final days of the Trump presidency in favor of former campaign advisers and Republican Party stalwarts.
Austin opted against moving forward with those eleventh-hour Trump appointees, suspending all Pentagon advisory board activities until June 1 while a review is conducted. He has asked the members of those panels to resign or be dismissed by Feb. 16.
The resignations do not apply to presidentially and congressionally appointed boards.
In all, 42 defense boards and committees, including the Defense Business Board and the Defense Policy Board, will be under a microscope while Pentagon officials evaluate their value and look for unnecessary duplication.
Trump had directed then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller to put old campaign hands such as Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie on the Defense Business Board in December.
On the Defense Policy Board were named former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Republican Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes, among others.
Trump’s four appointees to a new advisory board to consider renaming bases named after Confederate figures will also be dismissed, a senior defense official told reporters on a background call.
