Biden Reverses Trump’s Transgender Military Ban
Jabin Botsford/Washington Post/Getty 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.More than three years after Donald Trump tweeted into existence a ban against transgender service members, his successor has reversed it. On Monday morning, President Biden repealed the…
Biden’s Pentagon Pick Has Deep Defense Industry Ties. Now It Could Complicate His Nomination.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty 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.Joe Biden, in defending his decision to nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin as his Defense secretary pick on Tuesday, cited Austin’s “intimate knowledge of the Department of Defense…
After Trump Loosened the Rules of Engagement, Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan Rose by 95 Percent
Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty 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.More than three years ago, President Donald Trump announced that he would “lift restrictions and expand authorities” for United States troops in Afghanistan—giving the military a freer hand to…
Progressives Debate Whether to Oppose Michèle Flournoy for Defense Secretary
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty 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.Joe Biden named key members of his national security team last week, but the president-elect conspicuously avoided announcing his choice for Defense secretary. The presumptive favorite, Michèle Flournoy,…
Progressives Weigh Fight Over Biden’s Defense Secretary Pick
Carolyn Kaster/AP 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.As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to shape a national security team in his image, few choices loom larger than who he will pick to lead the Defense Department. That…
Donald Trump Is Purging the Defense Department to Elevate His Most Fervent Supporters
Michael Brochstein/AP 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.Six days ago, chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman took to Twitter to shoot down an NBC story claiming that Defense Secretary Mark Esper had prepared a letter of resignation. “He…