Biden picks next Pentagon policy chief, testing Tuberville’s blockade

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The White House said Tuesday that President Biden will nominate a new Pentagon policy chief, a position the administration deems central to navigating challenges posed by China and Russia but one at risk of encountering the same standoff with congressional Republicans that has stymied the confirmation of other defense nominees.

Officials said the administration would send the Senate Biden’s selection of Derek Chollet, who now serves as counselor to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to become undersecretary of defense for policy.

Biden’s nomination of Chollet to replace Colin Kahl, who stepped down this month, comes amid a feud over abortion policy that has resulted in the stalling of hundreds of nominees for military and defense positions, including Biden’s pick to head the Marine Corps. If the impasse continues, it could result in other high-level vacancies in coming months, including the military’s most senior position, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, imposed the hold in protest of an administration policy that enables the Pentagon to reimburse service members for travel expenses required to access abortions and other reproductive care if they are stationed in states where, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, such procedures are difficult or impossible to obtain.

Tuberville has said the agency’s “radical” policy exceeds administration authority. “We are here to make the law, not the Pentagon,” he said last week.

While many Republicans sympathize with Tuberville’s views on abortion, influential lawmakers including Senate Minority

Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said they do not back delaying military nominees. Tuberville has said the Senate could hold individual votes for nominees, which critics reject as onerous and time-consuming.

While Biden and other Democrats have warned that the hold could damage U.S. security and further politicize the military, Tuberville has refused to abandon his position despite administration officials’ defense of the policy and appeals from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The dispute casts a shadow over the largely bipartisan cooperation that characterizes support for defense spending and many military initiatives.

It’s not clear whether the impasse can be resolved before it affects Chollet, whose résumé includes a host of key national security roles including assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs; senior director for strategic planning on the National Security Council; principal deputy director of the State Department’s policy planning office; and speechwriter to then-U. S. Ambassador to the

United Nations Richard C. Holbrooke.

Chollet is expected to remain in his State Department role until

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Exchange shoppers generate $900,000 for Travis community in 2022

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