Washington’s defense minister warns about the weakening of the American army.
According to the Independent, “Lloyd Austin”, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, warned about the readiness and maintenance of the combat capability of the country’s army forces and said that with the resignation of some army commanders for the first time in the history of this country, two combat forces of the army without a commander approved by the Senate. , have remained.
Austin said the Senate’s failure to confirm new military commanders would disrupt the military’s operations and could affect America’s relationships with allies and partners around the world.
“Today, for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, two of our four combat forces will operate without leaders approved by the Senate,” Lloyd Austin said. “Good teams need good leaders, and this is critical to maintaining the full readiness of our combat forces,” he added.
Army Gen. James McConville is about to retire, and Gen. Randy George, the current deputy commanding general, has been nominated to serve as interim commander. Marine Corps General Eric Smith has also been nominated for command, but is holding the position on an interim basis because he has not been confirmed by the Senate.
These people are effectively in command positions, but are unable to do things that require Senate approval. Therefore, they cannot move to their main residence or offices and issue formal instructions for future planning. Also, some powers, including the powers related to the budget, do not automatically fall under the powers of interim leaders.
In his recent statement, Tuberville said that it is up to Democratic lawmakers to decide on the qualifications of Defense Department nominees. “I’m not going to stop anybody from confirming and I’m not going to stop anybody from voting,” he said. “Democrats could vote for these candidates, but they obviously don’t want to,” he said.
Democrats have said that individual votes on each of the hundreds of defense nominees would take months and waste the Senate’s time to deal with other issues. The US Congress is currently on summer break; This means that a possible vote may take place in a few weeks.
Earlier in July, US President Joe Biden nominated Lisa Franchetti as the commander of the US Navy. The current head of the US Navy, Michael Gildey, is retiring on Monday, and Francetti will serve as his interim replacement until he is confirmed by the Senate.
