Posted on Feb 3, 2019 2021 at 8:23Updated Feb 3, 2019 2021 at 8:24
Housekeeping in the halls of the Pentagon. In a note to heads of departments and commands, Joe Biden’s new Defense Minister Lloyd Austin announced that 42 advisory boards tasked with providing external advice to the Pentagon in various areas would be reviewed.
The goal ? Determine if they bring “tangible benefits” to the ministry. This investigation comes at a time when, in the last days of his mandate, Donald Trump had appointed dozens of faithful to these commissions. Hundreds of experts will be dismissed and the activities of the commissions suspended until June, said the Minister of Defense. Most experts are dismissed as of February 16.
Appoint new experts
Shortly after the November election, the Trump administration dismissed former foreign diplomats Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright from the Defense Policy Board, charged with helping shape the US defense strategy. They had been replaced by former Republican elected Newt Gingrich, considered a hawk, and former General Anthony Tata, who became a commentator on the Fox News channel and best known for his Islamophobic tweets. Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, officials of Donald Trump’s election campaign, were appointed to the Defense Business Board, which is supposed to give an independent opinion on major contracts awarded by the Pentagon.
“It is certain that the frantic activity which took place in the composition of many of these commissions between November and January deeply worried the minister and certainly helped him to take this decision”, declared the spokesperson of the Pentagon, John Kirby. Experts sitting on these committees are not remunerated, but the function is prestigious and it can provide access to important information.
At the end of the evaluation of these commissions, the Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin will decide the number of commissions he wishes to keep. It will then appoint new experts.
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