Biden Set to Name Non-Democrat Non-Civilian as Secretary of Defense

General Lloyd Austin in 2016, shortly before his retirement from the Army.Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA

Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.Oh man, I hate this so much:

SCOOP: It’s done—Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to lead the Pentagon, and will announce his nomination tomorrow. w/@laraseligman @tylerpager @connorobrienNH https://t.co/PidjAhC9AQ
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 7, 2020

I have literally never heard of Lloyd Austin before now, so obviously I have nothing personal against him. But there are two problems here. First, civilians should ultimately control the Pentagon. Trump broke this tradition with James Mattis and Biden should have firmly reestablished it. Second, a Democratic president should appoint Democrats to lead the Defense Department. Not Bill Cohen. Not Robert Gates. Not Chuck Hagel. And not Lloyd Austin. Democrats need to stop feeding the longtime Republican insinuation that people can’t trust the Mommy Party to run our wars.
This is not the biggest thing in the world. It’s just a longtime pet peeve of mine. If Democrats won’t stand up for civilian Democrats to run the Pentagon, who will?