SecDef Presses ‘Acting’ Pentagon Leaders To Act, SecAF GoldFein Says
By Colin Clark on March 21, 2017 at 12:51 PM
WASHINGTON: Until the Trump Administration, one of the standard limits on bureaucratic power was the circumscribed reach of anyone serving in an acting capacity. Unless or until a person was confirmed by the Senate for a senior position in the Pentagon, the argument went, they didn’t possess the political or public authority to make new policy or approve major changes to their organizations.
That may have changed as part of the Trump Administration’s apparent push to scrap large numbers of civilian appointees and reduce the size of Washington bureaucracies. If you wanted a close-up view of just how uncertain this terrain has become, all you had to do was listen to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein address the issue at the annual Future of War conference run by the New America Foundation and Arizona State University.
http://breakingdefense.com/2017/03/secdef-presses-acting-pentagon-leaders-to-act-secaf-goldfein-says/
