ICYMI: In Joint Op-Ed, Kelly and Duckworth Question Secretary of Defense Nominee’s Readiness for the Job
In case you missed it, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—both combat veterans and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)—penned an opinion column in Military Times on Peter Hegseth’s lack of experience and concerns over his leadership and readiness to serve as Secretary of Defense.
In this piece that comes ahead of the SASC hearing to consider Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, Kelly and Duckworth emphasize that he will have the opportunity to prove himself when he faces members of the committee.
Click here to read the full op-ed. See key excerpts below:
On the expectations of the Secretary of Defense
It has to be someone who can manage the bureaucracy — not have it manage them. It must be someone who not only has real ideas about how to use our resources to best counter threats we face around the world, but who can also work quickly and effectively to put those ideas into practice. It must be someone capable of managing any kind of budget, let alone one of more than $800 billion; who can plan and execute the kind of complex multidomain missions that keep our country safe; and who has proven themselves both able and worthy of leading our service members who ask for so little in exchange for risking so much.
From everything we know, it’s extremely unclear if Mr. Hegseth is that person.
On Mr. Hegseth’s merits for the job
While we respect his service in the Army Reserve and National Guard, he did not rise to a command position where he would learn the management, joint forces operations, logistics and other skills relevant to the role he’s up for now. He never commanded a task force or a detachment — nothing near the scale or scope of the 3 million people who make up the DOD.
These military experiences aren’t requirements for the job, but his civilian leadership experience is not just limited, it is also fraught with evidence that he is not an effective or trusted leader. He financially mismanaged two veterans political organizations, with his staff alleging that he misused funds, was frequently drunk in front of them and fostered an environment where sexual harassment was an issue. He spent the last seven years as a Fox News host, where his alcohol consumption was also a concern among his co-workers. We would not tolerate this kind of reckless behavior from recruits — there is absolutely zero reason we should tolerate it from the man who is supposed to be their leader.
