Biden picks Gen. Charles Q. Brown as chair of Joint Chiefs
WASHINGTON — President Biden formally announced his nomination of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Thursday, but the Senate will have to move past a political divide for him to be confirmed as the nation’s top military officer.
“Gen. Brown is a proud, butt-kickin’ American airman,” Biden said in the White House Rose Garden.
“And he has an unmatched, firsthand knowledge of our operations, operational theaters, and a strategic vision to understand how they all work together to ensure the security for the American people.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Brown, 61, would replace the current Joint Chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley — who has held the post since October 2019 and is retiring after a 43-year military career.
Currently the top officer in charge of the Air Force, Brown previously led the Pacific Air Forces, which directs the service’s operations confronting China in the western Pacific.
President Biden formally announced his nomination of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Getty Images
The experience will be valuable as Washington considers Beijing its No. 1 adversary.
Brown — whose grandfather “led a segregated [military] unit in World War II,” according to Biden — would be the second-ever black man to serve in the role after the late Colin Powell, who held the post from 1989 to 1993.
“Gen. Brown is an incredibly capable and professional officer, and what he brings to the table, to any table, is that professionalism, that deep experience in warfighting and I have personal knowledge of that,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters on Thursday.
“So I think General Brown is going to be a great officer in any capacity.”
Milley also spoke highly of his possible replacement on Thursday, saying he and Austin had known Brown “for a long time.”
Brown may face an uphill battle for Senate confirmation as Sen. Tommy Tuberville continues to block roughly 200 DOD nominations. AP
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“In my view, he has all the knowledge skills attributes to do this job, and he has the appropriate demeanor and he’s got a great chemistry with obviously with the president [and] SecDef and others,” Milley said.
“So I think [this choice is] absolutely superb and I am looking forward to a speedy confirmation.”
After former President Donald Trump nominated Brown to his current role as Air Force chief of staff in 2020, the Senate voted 98-0 to confirm him, making Brown the first black person to serve as the top officer in any US military branch.
But Brown may face an uphill battle for Senate confirmation this time around, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) continues to single-handedly block roughly 200 DOD nominations since March in protest of new Pentagon policies that reimburse and provide paid leave to service members who travel to receive an abortion.
Despite the vital nature of the Joint Staff Chief role to military operations, Tuberville is not expected to make an exception for Brown, with his office telling NBC News that “the hold applies to all two-stars and above.”
Tuberville’s objections have drawn harsh criticism from the Pentagon and defense officials, who say the senator is holding national security hostage for political gain.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of seven former US defense secretaries wrote the Senate with concern over Tuberville’s holdups, saying “we believe placing a hold on all uniformed nominees risks turning military officers into political pawns, holding them responsible for a policy decision made by their civilian leaders”
The signatories — William Perry, William Cohen, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, Jim Mattis and Mark Esper — said holding up confirmation votes “at a time of enormous geopolitical uncertainty sends the wrong message to our adversaries and could weaken our deterrence.”
“The current hold that has been in place now for several weeks is preventing key leaders from
assuming important, senior command and staff positions around the world,” they said.
“Some are unable to take important command positions, such as leading the 5th Fleet in Bahrain and the 7th Fleet in the Pacific, which are critical to checking Iranian and Chinese aggression, respectively.”
Source: New York Post
