Joe Biden's Defense Secretary Nominee Lloyd Austin Faces Uphill Climb for Confirmation

Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Nominee Lloyd Austin Faces Uphill Climb for Confirmation

Ties to private equity and Raytheon, Democrats opposing a waiver makes Austin’s confirmation tenuous.

December 9, 2020
Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Nominee Lloyd Austin Faces Uphill Climb for Confirmation

Senate Democrats Throw Cold Water on Granting a Waiver

Slate: “In fact, after the Mattis confirmation, Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he would vote against any future waivers, claiming that they should be granted no more than once in a generation.”

Slate: “In fact, after the Mattis confirmation, Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he would vote against any future waivers, claiming that they should be granted no more than once in a generation.”

  • The Hill: “‘I think the preference would be for someone who is not recently retired,’ Reed said.”

The Hill: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that she will oppose granting a waiver to retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden‘s pick to lead the Pentagon.” 

The Hill: “Blumenthal declined to say if he believed Biden should nominate someone else but added, ‘I will not support the waiver.’” 

The Hill: “Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), another one of the 17 ‘no’ votes in 2017, said on Tuesday that he was also unlikely to support granting Austin a waiver. ‘I didn’t for Mattis, and I don’t think I will for him,’ Tester said, referring to Austin.”

Rep. Elissa Slotkin: “I have deep respect for Gen. Lloyd Austin. We worked together when he commanded U.S. forces in Iraq, when he was vice chief of the Army, and when he was the CENTCOM commander. But choosing another recently retired general to serve in a role designed for a civilian just feels off.”

Austin’s Time in Charge of CENTCOM Coincides with Rise of ISIS

Newsweek: “GOP lawmakers will take issue with Austin’s record leading CENTCOM, during which time the command was accused of downplaying the threat posed by ISIS and manipulating intelligence to support its flawed premise.”

  • The Atlantic wrote in 2016 that Austin told the White House that ISIS was “a flash in the pan,” prompting Obama to tell The New Yorker that the group—which came to control a swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria and has launched multiple terrorist attacks in the West—was terrorism’s ‘jayvee team.’

Defense News: His time at CENTCOM coincided with the rise of the Islamic State group, better known as ISIS, as well as the effort to grow an anti-ISIS military force in Syria. That train-and-equip mission led to an explosive congressional hearing, where Austin was ripped by members of Congress after he admitted the effort, underway for five months, had produced only ‘four or five’ fighters.”

Dan Lamothe, Washington Post: “Sen. John McCain, to Gen. Lloyd Austin five years ago: ‘I’ve never seen a hearing that is as divorced from the reality of every outside expert and what you are saying.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeBEzeyV8Ow””

Austin’s Time at Raytheon & in Private Equity Prompts Unease, Raises Questions

Newsweek: “On the left, Austin’s post-retirement role as a board member for the Raytheon defense contractor—for whom former Defense Secretary Mark Esper lobbied for years—will prompt unease.”

New York Times: “‘American national security should not be defined by the bottom lines of Boeing, General Dynamics and Raytheon,’ Representative Mark Pocan, Democrat of Wisconsin, said last month in a statement.”

New York Times: “General Austin also has served as a partner at an investment firm named Pine Island Capital, whose board he joined in July. The firm has been on a recent buying spree of small military contractors, including Precinmac Precision Machining, which sells specialized parts for rocket launching systems and machine guns.”

  • At the time General Austin joined the firm, Pine Island said he was ‘already fully engaged, working with us on new investments, bringing his experience and judgment to our portfolio companies,’ which include InVeris Training Solutions, which provides virtual weapons firing training.”

New York Times: Inside Raytheon, officials were said to be excited by the prospect of a board member becoming defense secretary, according to a person who works with the company.”

  • Daryl G. Kimball: “Raytheon, I would note, has an enormous financial stake in upcoming decisions by the Biden administration, the Congress, the secretary of defense.”