WASHINGTON (AP) – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered hundreds of Pentagon advisory board members to step down this month as part of a broad review of the panels, effectively making several dozen last-minute appointments under Trump. records were deleted.
During the last two months of his tenure, former acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller removed a number of longtime members from various boards of defense policy, health, science and business and replaced many with loyalists of former President Donald Trump. More than 30 of those replacements will now be forced to resign, including former GOP House speaker Newt Gingrich, retired Brig. General Anthony Tata and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
“I am leading the immediate suspension of all work of the advisory committee until the review is completed, unless otherwise specified by myself or the deputy secretary of defense,” Austin said in a memo released Tuesday. And he ordered all committee members appointed by the Secretary of Defense to resign by February 16.
Tata, a former Fox News commentator, failed to get Senate confirmation due to offensive comments he made, including on Islam. He was named acting defense undersecretary for policy in November, just days after Trump fired Pentagon chief Mark Esper and put Miller to work. Miller appointed Tata to the Defense Policy Board on January 19, his last full day of work. Gingrich was appointed to the same board. Lewandowski was appointed to the Defense Business Board.
A senior defense official said Austin’s decision was prompted by Miller’s hectic activity to remove and replace dozens of board members in such a short time between Trump’s election loss and President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Austin believed that halting all boards’ activity and intensifying review was the fairest and most consistent process.
Officials said the review will look at whether the boards have overlapping jurisdictions and whether they should be realigned or whether money could be saved by shortening some of them. It will also make recommendations on the number of members, size and mission of all boards.