Follow us on social

2021-01-10t142837z_154922120_rc225l9gu4fp_rtrmadp_3_usa-biden-defense-scaled

10 questions Congress must ask sec def candidate Austin this week

Where does he stand on China, Afghanistan, cronyism in the Pentagon, and America's big footprint? We want to know.

Analysis | Washington Politics

On Tuesday, exactly one day before Joe Biden’s inauguration, the Senate will hold a hearing on the president-elect’s nominee for secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, a recently-retired general who played significant leadership roles in the Iraq War and oversaw Centcom, a major command that encompasses the Middle East and all of the major U.S. war theaters of the past two decades.

If confirmed, Austin would be the first African American to hold the top post in the Pentagon, but since he retired from the military less than seven years ago in 2016, Congress would have to grant him a waiver to serve in what is a civilian role. The idea of granting a waiver twice in four years — former General James Mattis had to have clearance before he took over the position in the Trump administrationdoesn’t sit well with some Senators, though Austin is likely to get it anyway, according to reports. The House will begin hearings on the waiver on Jan. 21.

In addition to the waiver issue, Austin has been criticized for his close ties to the defense industry. After retirement, Austin joined the board of United Technologies Corp., earning $1.4 million in 2016 alone, and set up his own consulting firm. In early 2020, when UCI merged with Raytheon, one of the top five defense contractors in the world, he got a seat on its board of directors. Raytheon earned $16 billion in contracts from Washington in 2019, and has played a major role in selling weapons to the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia for its war in Yemen.

Many of his positions on a wide variety of national security and foreign policy issues have yet to be known. There is some indication, as the Quincy Institute’s Mark Perry has written, that he publicly supports “strategic patience,” and was angered by the initial Saudi intervention in Yemen in 2015, which the United States later supported, and still does, at least materially. That emphasis on patience, particularly in regards to China, could end up being a mark against him, depending on whether a more hawkish posture ends up prevailing in the new administration. 

So the questions Austin is asked at his upcoming hearings are key to understanding what kind of defense secretary he will be: will he endeavor to uphold the status quo or help pull U.S. national security back from 20 years of a counterproductive militarized strategy overseas? QI poses these 10 questions to tease the answer out:

1) The United States has somewhere around 200,000 service members stationed at some 800 bases in at least 70 countries overseas. This approach could perhaps go on for some time longer, but it can't go on forever. Under what conditions could Washington bring home a significant portion of its troops, even if they are not engaged in combat?

2) Do you consider China to pose an existential threat to the United States? If not, how do you think the United States and China can keep themselves from getting locked into an intense, cold war-style arms race and potentially armed conflict?

3) Do you support the repeal of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Force passed after 9/11 and/or the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Force in Iraq? Would you favor replacing either with specific and targeted authorities for each distinct theater of combat U.S. forces are engaged in lethal combat? If not, why not?

4) The Pentagon has recognized that climate chaos poses a serious national security risk to U.S. forces and allies. At the same time, the U.S. military is the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. Do you support a reduction in the global role of the U.S. military as part of an international effort to combat climate change?

5) The United States is currently engaged in an enormous modernization of its nuclear strike force. Do you support this effort?  If so, please explain what it will accomplish and why it is necessary. 

6) In recent months, Pyongyang has unveiled what appeared to be the country’s largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile as well as a new submarine-launched ballistic missile. Senior Pentagon officials have stated on the record that removing North Korea's nuclear weapons, or denuclearization, would require a ground invasion. How should the United States approach this issue in a way that does not lead to war? 

7) There’s concern that the revolving door culture has created a cozy relationship between top defense contractors and senior officials, resulting in programs and budgets that favor special interests rather than what’s best for the security of the country. What will you do to ensure that Pentagon officials are not working directly on programs that promote the business of a former private sector employer, and enforce cooling off periods for ex-officials lobbying the Pentagon on behalf of a new employer?

8) Under the current U.S.-Taliban agreement, the United States should be removing all of its remaining troops from that country by May 1 of this year. Do you agree that it is time to leave Afghanistan? What do you think of suggestions that the U.S. leave behind a “small counterterrorism force” indefinitely?

9) The $740 billion outlays in the recently passed NDAA imposes a $4,711 cost per tax filer, of which roughly 50 percent goes to defense contractors. Could you explain to taxpayers how such a high portion of their tax bill being allocated to the defense budget benefits them in this time of economic insecurity and high unemployment?

10)  A recent article on your political beliefs speculated that you are an advocate for (as they described it) "strategic patience." Is this the case, and if so could you expand on your beliefs?

Contributing: Lora Lumpe, Andrew Bacevich, Stephen Wertheim, Jessica Lee, Mark Perry, Adam Weinstein, and Eli Clifton.


FILE PHOTO: U.S. General Lloyd Austin, nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to be his Secretary of Defense, speaks virtually with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY, not pictured) at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago/File Photo
Analysis | Washington Politics
iraqi protests iran israel
Top photo credit: Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims hold a cutout of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they attend a protest against Israeli strikes on Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Iraq on razor's edge between Iran and US interests in new war

Middle East

As Israeli jets and Iranian rockets streak across the Middle Eastern skies, Iraq finds itself caught squarely in the crossfire.

With regional titans clashing above its head, Iraq’s fragile and hard-won stability, painstakingly rebuilt over decades of conflict, now hangs precariously in the balance. Washington’s own tacit acknowledgement of Iraq’s vulnerable position was laid bare by its decision to partially evacuate embassy personnel in Iraq and allow military dependents to leave the region.

This withdrawal, prompted by intelligence indicating Israeli preparations for long-range strikes, highlighted that Iraq’s airspace would be an unwitting corridor for Israeli and Iranian operations.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani is now caught in a complicated bind, attempting to uphold Iraq’s security partnership with the United States while simultaneously facing intense domestic pressure from powerful, Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) factions. These groups, emboldened by the Israel-Iran clash, have intensified their calls for American troop withdrawal and threaten renewed attacks against U.S. personnel, viewing them as legitimate targets and enablers of Israeli aggression.

keep readingShow less
George Bush mission accomplished
This file photo shows Bush delivering a speech to crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, as the carrier steamed toward San Diego, California on May 1, 2003. via REUTERS

Déjà coup: Iran war activates regime change dead-enders

Washington Politics

By now you’ve likely seen the viral video of an Iranian television reporter fleeing off-screen as Israel bombed the TV station where she was recording live. As the Quincy Institute’s Adam Weinstein quickly pointed out, Israel's attack on the broadcasting facility is directly out of the regime change playbook, “meant to shake public confidence in the Iranian government's ability to protect itself” and by implication, Iran’s citizenry.

Indeed, in the United States there is a steady drumbeat of media figures and legislators who have been loudly championing Israel’s apparent desire to overthrow the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

keep readingShow less
Ukraine NATO
Top photo credit: August 2024 -- Led by the United Kingdom and involving trainers from 12 other countries, Operation Interflex gives Ukrainian recruits a five-week crash course in everything from infantry tactics to combat first aid, preparing them to defend their homeland. . (NATO/Flickr)

How NATO military doctrine failed Ukraine on the battlefield

Europe

The war in Ukraine has raged for over three years. As ceasefire talks loom, major European NATO members including Germany, UK, France and Denmark are planning to protect any future armistice by sending their troops as peacekeepers in a “Coalition of the Willing.”

Their goal is to deter the Russians from restarting the war. Unfortunately, deterrence comes from combat capability. Without it there is no deterrence at all. That capability is in question. NATO equipment and doctrine was developed for the Cold War and tested in the mountains of Afghanistan. It has not been tested in conventional war and needs to absorb lessons from the Ukraine war to offer a military option to the European elites, independent of the United States.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.