Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby met with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) on Wednesday, one day after the senator was among a group of Senate Armed Services Committee members who criticized the lack of outreach and communication from the Pentagon policy shop.
The two officials had a “constructive” meeting, Sullivan’s office told the Washington Examiner, while a Pentagon official confirmed the meeting happened but did not provide specific details.
Colby faced criticism from multiple Republican members of the committee on Wednesday during a confirmation hearing of three assistant secretary appointees, which is notable given that the lawmakers simultaneously defended Trump and his policies.
“You know who the hardest guy to get a hold of in the Trump administration is? The undersecretary of Defense for policy,” Sullivan said during the hearing. “It’s frustrating when on the DOD stuff, especially on the policy stuff, on big decisions, we’re not getting anything. And we’re not. We’re not. Trust me, I’ve been trying.”
He announced during the hearing that he had a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with Colby, but questioned whether it would, in fact, occur as scheduled.
Their frustration came from a lack of communication between them and the Pentagon’s policy shop, and they cited examples where it seemed like the Pentagon was not operating in concert with the Trump administration’s broader vision.
“I understand that media reports can be wrong, believe me, but it just seems like there’s this pigpen-like mess coming out of the policy shop that you don’t see from, say, intel and security and acquisition and sustainment,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said.
The senators stated that they were not provided with details on subjects ranging from the military’s force posture review to the development of the department’s new National Defense Strategy, as well as the recently announced reduction in presence in Romania, among other topics.
“The department is allegedly conducting a broad review of U.S. forces stationed abroad. I say ‘allegedly’ because the department has not formally conveyed to this committee that it is actually undertaking such a review,” the committee chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), said. “Members and staff of this committee have struggled to receive information from the policy office and have not been able to consult in a meaningful way with the shop either on the National Defense Strategy or the Global Posture Review.”
REPUBLICAN SENATORS AIR FRUSTRATIONS OVER LACK OF INFORMATION FROM PENTAGON
At one point in the contentious hearing, Austin Dahmer, whose confirmation to be the assistant secretary of defense strategy, plans, and capabilities, said there had been four briefings with members of the committee about the withdrawal of some U.S. forces from Romania, three of which occurred before the announcement went public.
Wicker said that after conferring with both majority and minority staffers, no briefings had in fact occurred.
