Mucking the stable in an ordered and patient way, getting the shit out. In the interim, disarm it. Do not allow it to displace the horse in the stable.
From Breitbart:
The Pentagon also announced that all activity by the more than 40 committees and its hundreds of members would be suspended during the review.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Tuesday at a briefing:
The secretary was deeply concerned with the pace and the extent of recent changes to memberships have Department Advisory Committees and this review will allow him now to quickly get his arms around the purpose of these boards and to make sure the advisory committees are in fact providing the best possible advice to department leadership.
Austin gave the order in a January 30 memo that said:
Advisory committees have and will continue to provide an important role in shaping public policy within DoD. That said, our stewardship responsibilities require that we continually assess to ensure each advisory committee provides appropriate value today and in the future, as times and requirements change.
I am aware of and appreciate earlier review efforts to reshape how we use advisory committees and consider the tangible benefits they bring to the Department. Nevertheless, I am directing a zero-based review of all DoD advisory committees, to include any advisory committee that is not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C., Appendix). This review will, by definition and intent, focus our advisory committee efforts to align with our most pressing strategic priorities and the National Defense Strategy.
…
As an interim step, I am directing the immediate suspension of all advisory committee operations until the review is completed unless otherwise directed by myself or the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
The Pentagon’s “zero-based review” is taking place after former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller appointed about two dozen people to some of the committees before he left office in January 2021.
On December 4, Miller appointed former Trump campaign advisers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, Henry Dreifus, Robert McMahon, Cory Mills, Bill Bruner, Christopher Shank, Joseph Schmidt, Keary Miller, Alan Weh, and Earl Matthews to the Defense Business Board.
On December 12, Miller appointed renowned China expert Michael Pillsbury to serve as the chair of the Defense Policy Board.
Between December 12 and 14, he named former National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Amb. Thomas Carter, Dr. Edward Luttwak, Mr. Scott O’Grady, Mr. Thomas Stewart, former Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), former Sen. Robert Smith (R-NH), and Amb, Charles Glazer to the Defense Policy Board.
On December 15, Miller appointed Dr. Dana Gordon to the Defense Health Board Neurological/Behavioral Health Subcommittee, and Small Business Administration Assistant Administrator Sery Kim to the Defense Health Board Public Health Subcommittee.
And on December 18, Miller appointed former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Tidal McCoy and former NASA CFO Jeff DeWit to the Defense Science Board.
Instead of reversing these appointments, Austin is halting all 42 defense committees’ activity as he reviews each one.
The move also affects the congressionally-mandated commission on renaming Confederate-named military bases, which Miller named four appointees to — including Earl Matthews, an Army National Guard colonel, Harvard Law School graduate, and former acting Army general counsel, who is African American.
Kirby said the committees will be considered as they relate to the National Defense Strategy and “to our own strategic priorities.”
He said the review would be completed by April 30, 2021, and that recommendations would be made to Austin by June 1, 2021.
Newt Gingrich? Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie? Freeloading up to June 1? What's the pay grade, the total cost, Trump's dump on his way out the door?
Garbage in, garbage out? The Breitbart item concludes:
“So the recommendations we expect, the secretary expects, will include retention, realignment, termination, changes to mission or functions, membership balance, membership size, and possible legislative changes, again, to the non-discretionary advisory committees,” he said.
Trump must remain proud of his capability to mess up the government for a half year after he'd been ousted and replaced. Because he could. Should not being any part of the consideration.
__________UPDATE_________
CORRECTION: The initial article cited above was ambiguous. Austin actually disbanded the committee structure - ending paychecks during the re-evaluation period. Bless the man's wisdom. That AP feed begins:
Trump loyalists removed from defense boards as new Pentagon chief orders review
The broad review is forcing hundreds of people to resign including more than 30 loyal to former President Trump and added in his final weeks.
Author: LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press - Published: 9:34 PM MST February 2, 2021 - Updated: 9:34 PM MST February 2, 2021
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered hundreds of Pentagon advisory board members to resign this month as part of a broad review of the panels, essentially purging several dozen who were appointed last-minute under the Trump administration.
During the last two months of his tenure, former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller removed a number of longtime members from several defense policy, health, science and business boards 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. Gen. Anthony Tata and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
“I am directing the immediate suspension of all advisory committee operations until the review is completed unless otherwise directed by myself or the deputy secretary of defense,” Austin said in a memo released Tuesday. And he ordered all committee members who were appointed by the defense secretary to resign no later than Feb. 16.
Austin said the review will assess whether each board provides value and make sure its focus aligns with "our most pressing strategic priorities and the National Defense Strategy.”
Tata, a former Fox News commentator, failed to get through Senate confirmation for the top Pentagon policy job early last year because of offensive remarks he had made, including about Islam. [...]
Miller appointed Tata to the Defense Policy Board on Jan. 19, his last full day on the job. Gingrich was appointed to that same board. Lewandowski was appointed to the Defense Business Board.
A senior defense official said Austin's decision was driven by the frenetic activity of Miller to remove dozens of board members and replace them in such a short amount of time between Trump's election loss and the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
[,,,] Of the 42 advisory panels listed in Austin's memo, 31 will have their members removed, six will be part of the review but their members will be retained, and five others have either no members at this time or have concluded their business. Among the 31 are some of the department's most well known boards, including those with purview over defense policy, science, health, innovation, Arlington National Cemetery and women in the military.All together there are more than 600 members on the 42 boards. Defense officials said they don't know exactly how many are being asked to resign, but it will be hundreds.
[links in original omitted]