In his first public remarks since being tapped by President-elect Joe Biden as the nominee for secretary of the Department of Defense, retired Gen. Lloyd Austin began the work of convincing Congress to grant him an exception to serve without fulfilling the required seven years out of uniform.
“I come to this new role as a civilian leader with military experience,” Austin said at his Wilmington, Delaware, introduction by Biden.
“I look forward to surrounding myself with experienced, capable civilian appointees and career civil servants who will enable healthy civil military relations grounded in meaningful civilian oversight,” he added.
Biden as vice president worked closely with Austin when he led U.S. Central Command and wound down Operation Iraqi Freedom, drawing down 135,000 troops from Iraq.
The president-elect said the 41-year Army veteran was the right man for the job and should be granted an exception just as President Trump’s nominee, Gen. Jim Mattis, was in 2017.
“There’s a good reason for this law that I fully understand and respect,” Biden said, emphasizing that “this moment in our history” called for an exception.
Biden went on to emphasize that he understood the importance of civilian control of the military.
“Civilian-military, the dynamic, that dynamic itself has been under great stress the past four years,” he said. “He’ll be bolstered by a strong and empowered civilian sector and senior officials working to shape DOD’s policies and ensure that our defense policies are accountable to the American people.”
American Enterprise Institute security expert Zack Cooper said it is likely many members of Congress will still call into question Biden’s wisdom in selecting a recently retired Army general.
“This is not a cut-and-dry decision,” he told the Washington Examiner. “There have been top Democrats in Congress on national security who said that they don’t expect that they’ll support a new law to allow him to serve in the position.”
He added: “My guess is that the Biden team did not expect this level of opposition.”
Cooper believes that Austin’s confirmation hearing will be crucial to convincing members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to allow him to serve in the role.
Biden used a story in the Atlantic Tuesday and his introductory remarks Wednesday to start building the case for Austin.
“He shares my deeply held belief and the values of America’s alliances,” Biden said. “He is just as committed as I am to rebuilding and modernizing those allies from the Asia-Pacific to Europe.”
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris took the stage after Austin to highlight how the would-be first African American secretary of defense would assure COVID-19 vaccines are “distributed equitably.”
“This is a milestone nomination, a seasoned, highly decorated, and trailblazing commander general,” she added.
Biden also stressed that Austin will be called upon to wind down America’s overseas conflicts.
“We need his firsthand knowledge of the immeasurable costs of war and the burden it places on our service members and their families to bring to an end the forever wars,” the president-elect said.
