Blumenthal will oppose Biden’s nominee for defense secretary
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden's Secretary of Defense nominee, took another step toward becoming the first Black U.S. Secretary of Defense. But his path to confirmation by Congress is a bumpy one, facing opposition not only from Republicans but some Democrats as well.
Austin, 67, served about four decades in the military, rising through the ranks of the U.S. Army to head U.S. Central Command, which oversees strategy and operations in the Middle East and Central and South Asia.
He requires a waiver from Congress to assume the role because he retired from the military less than seven years ago, in 2016. The head of the Department of the Defense is traditionally a non-uniformed civilian; the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the nation’s highest ranking military official.
The Connecticut congressional delegation is split over whether to back a waiver for Austin, although all believe him to be highly qualified for the job. Some delegation members will support a waiver for Austin, although four years ago they voted against the same waiver for President Donald Trump’s first secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, an esteemed Marine general.
The waiver puts some Democrats in a bind. Some feel strongly about civilian control of the Pentagon, but they like Austin and don’t want to oppose a waiver for the first Black nominee as its chief. Some Republicans will support a waiver for Austin, but may not support his confirmation.
Blumenthal had a one-onone meeting with Austin last week. He said he likes and supports Austin, but believes firmly in following the law that one must leave the military seven years prior to becoming head of the Pentagon.
Blumenthal will vote against a congressional waiver Austin needs take the job, calling it a matter of “principle” on Tuesday.
“Civilian control of the military is a bedrock constitutional principal that we need to uphold strongly,” Blumenthal said in an interview, noting that he also opposed a waiver for Mattis.
Among other Democrats, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a veteran who lost her legs in combat in Iraq, will also vote against a waiver, she told the Washington Post.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also voted against a waiver for Mattis in January 2017, when Trump first took office. Murphy said Monday he would support a waiver for Austin, however, because he thought there was “much less reason to be fearful of a recently retired general running DoD under Biden.”
“The immediacy of the threat to our country requires DoD to have leadership in place without delay,” Murphy wrote on Twitter. “A general at DoD was especially worrying under Trump. Trump had zero foreign policy experience, a penchant to glorify violence, a total neophyte Secretary of State, and an unstable, war mongering former general as [director of the national security agency]... All of this is different under Biden.”
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a congressional waiver for Austin on Thursday, before the Senate votes. The waiver is separate from any vote to confirm Austin.
In 2017, all of Connecticut’s Democratic House members voted against a waiver for Mattis.
Reps. John Larson, D-1, and Rosa DeLauro, D-3, will support a waiver for Austin, their staff said Tuesday. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, is undecided, his spokesman said. Other members of the delegation did not respond to a request for comment.