Major Changes in the Pentagon and How They Could Affect the Presidential Transition
President Donald Trump with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Army Gen. Mark Milley, right, and then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper at the White House, October 7, 2019. Source.
In the midst of controversy surrounding the transition from the Trump administration to President Elect Biden’s administration, major staff changes at the Pentagon have been pushed through amidst the chaos. Beginning with the firing of former Secretary of Defense Mike Esper, many high ranking officials have now been replaced. Here is a list of important staff changes and how it could affect both the Presidential transition.
Trump fired Esper via tweet on Monday, November 9th. The tweet also named Esper’s replacement, Christopher C. Miller, who has a long reputation for working on counterterrorism efforts. Esper and Trump have not seen eye to eye on a few key issues, most significantly, Esper opposed sending troops to local areas to stop racial justice protests in the summer of 2020, along with other controversies surrounding the issue of racial justice protests and renaming projects.
Esper’s termination led to other senior officials’ replacement. The first to go was former Undersecretary of Policy, James Anderson. Anthony Tata now holds the position. Tata was one of Trump’s nominees for this position, but the nomination was withdrawn when tweets surfaced where he supported and spread many conspiracy theories, such as those that claim former President Barack Obama was a “terrorist leader.” He served as an advisor for former Defence Secretary Esper and is known to be loyal to Trump.
Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense, Jen Stewart, resigned shortly after Anderson. She was replaced by Kash Patel, who most recently served as a top counterterrorist official and a deputy assistant for the Trump Administration. This change could have a significant effect on the Presidential transition period as Stewart was slated to head the Pentagon’s transition team. Any change in this position would pose challenges to this process, but the appointment of someone who has worked even more closely with Trump than Stewart could present further delays due to the possibility of further refusals to transition.
Former Under Secretary of Defense, Joseph Kernan, also resigned and was replaced by Ezra Cohen-Watnick. Cohen-Watnick worked on the National Security Council under former National Security Advisor, Micheal Flynn. However, he sparked major controversy with the Central Intelligence Agency in 2017 when he pushed back against the orders of former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster.
These appointments represent a new Pentagon packed with noted Trump loyalists. This new set of officials have also made agreements with the Trump administration to not have any contact with President Elect Biden or his transition team until the General Services Administration (GSA) officially approves the election results. So far, GSA’s administrator, Emily Murphy has refused to call the election due to ongoing lawsuits by the Trump Administration that contest the results. This refusal — along with a new panel of Pentagon officials — has prevented Biden’s team from receiving the money and office space needed to facilitate a proper transition of power.