Tag Archive for: Lloyd Austin

JOE BIDEN WRAPPED: How Delaware’s Favorite Son Fared During His Final Year In Office

President Joe Biden had an eventful last year in office, from losing track of his Defense Secretary to breaking one last promise and pardoning his son, all while dropping out of the presidential race and saying his final goodbye to the Oval Office.

Biden’s approval rating hit an all-time low, falling to 34% just two weeks before the end of the year. Biden battled low approval ratings before dropping out of the presidential race, but still managed to fight off a special counsel report, make it to the first debate, and overshadow Vice President Kamala Harris’s closing arguments before her loss.

Biden’s 2024 began with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin going MIA as he and the Pentagon forgot to notify the White House about his hospitalization for several days. Austin was hospitalized at Walter Reed Hospital on Jan. 1 and neither his stay, nor his time in the intensive care unit, was reported to the White House. Despite the communication break down, Biden never considered firing Austin, a White House official previously confirmed to the Daily Caller.

Once the Austin scandal died down, ran into Special Counsel Robert Hur. Hur declined to pursue criminal charges against the president, despite finding that Biden willfully retained classified documents, because a jury might see Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Hur noted in his report that during their five hour interview, he forgot when his term as vice president began and ended and when his son Beau had died. The president held an angry press conference responding to the report and blaming his staff for the handling of the classified documents.

“How bad is your memory?” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked the president.

“My memory is so bad I let you speak,” Biden snapped. “My memory is fine. Take a look at what I’ve done since I’ve become president.”

Whatever chance the White House had of dispelling concerns about Biden’s fitness evaporated when he took the debate stage. Facing off against now-President-elect Donald Trump, Biden mumbled and stumbled through answers and lit a firestorm amid his party. Suddenly, Biden and his campaign staff were facing calls from within the Democratic party for the president to drop out of the race.

The concerns within the party became too much for the campaign to weather and Biden announced via Twitter, about a month after the debate, that he was calling it quits.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a twitter statement. Days later he would show his face for the first time since dropping out and vaguely address the nation about his departure. 

Biden didn’t fade from the spotlight quite yet. As Harris addressed her supporters just feet away from the White House for her closing argument, Biden made sure to steal the attention, calling Trump supporters “garbage.”

While on a get-out-the-vote call, Biden started to discuss a joke made by comic Tony Hinchcliffe during a Trump rally, saying that the only garbage “floating out there is his supporters.” The White House responded to outrage about the president’s remarks by posting a written transcript of his comments, modifying “supporters” to “supporter’s,” falsely claiming that Biden was addressing Hinchcliffe, not Trump voters.

It was later revealed that the White House stenographers put in their official transcript that Biden had said “supporters,” but the press office had decided to release a modified transcript after they “conferred with the president,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

After months of insisting he would not do so, Biden rounded out 2024 by pardoning his son.  A Delaware jury convicted Hunter Biden in June for knowingly possessing a gun while suffering from a drug addiction and making false statements on the purchase document. The president absolved his son of his crimes, arguing that he was targeted by his own Department of Justice because of his identity.

“For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded,” the president wrote.

“Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice — and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

GOP Senators On The Fence For Trump Nominees Voted To Confirm Worst Of The Worst For Biden

Several Senate Republicans who previously confirmed President Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees now appear hesitant about some of President-elect Donald Trump’s appointees.

Some Republicans are sidestepping questions surrounding Trump’s more contentious nominees, calling into question which of his picks will survive the confirmation process. The nominees attracting the most pushback from within the GOP’s tent include Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel.

While many of these Republicans supported Biden’s cabinet confirmations, they now seem tentative about Trump’s selections. Senators who previously voted to confirm Biden’s nominees such as Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas are now seemingly noncommittal about Trump’s choices.

Trump’s nominees aim to reverse Biden administration policies and reinstate his “America First” agenda. Members of Biden’s cabinet, meanwhile, have drawn harsh criticism during their tenures — particularly Mayorkas, who Republicans criticized for failing to stem the influx of illegal migrants across the southern border during Biden’s term, and Austin, who was criticized for the disastrous mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, which left 13 Americans dead in 2021. Austin was also grilled in February over what he called a “breakdown in notifications” after he allegedly failed to notify Biden and others that he was in the intensive care unit for surgery related to prostate cancer.

Republicans have also ripped Garland, who they say weaponized the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to charges against Trump. House Republicans even introduced a resolution that would have fined the attorney general $10,000 per day were he to continue withholding audiotapes from the interview with Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur.

These still-on-the-fence Republican senators who voted to confirm Garland include Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds and South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who was elected in November to replace longtime ally McConnell as Senate majority leader. Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst is also meeting with Hegseth for the second time Monday and has not said whether she will be voting in favor of his confirmation.

Many Republican Senators also voted to confirm Austin to run the Department of Defense (DOD), but some are cagey about expressing their voting plans for Hegseth, Trump’s DOD pick.

Hegseth is facing allegations of sexual assault, which he has adamantly denied and for which he has not been charged. In the weeks following the announcement of his nomination, left-leaning media outlets have run numerous stories alleging that he has a drinking problem and is sexually promiscuous. Colleagues from Fox News have defended Hegseth in response to these allegations, which he has also denied.

The Republican senators who voted to confirm Austin but have not revealed their vote for Hegseth include Rounds, Cassidy, Ernst, Collins, Thune, McConnell and Murkowski.

Collins and Murkowski both voted to confirm Mayorkas as DHS secretary. The two have dodged questioning about their plans on voting for Trump’s cabinet picks, despite previously supporting Biden’s.

Despite the uncertainty, the president-elect has stood by his nominations and stated that he believes the Senate will vote to confirm Hegseth. No Senate Democrats voted against any of Biden’s cabinet appointees.

AUTHOR

Henry Rodgers

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Seven GOP Senators Most Likely To Stand Between Trump And His Dream Cabinet


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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: New Docs Shed Light On Air Force’s ‘Goal’ To Reduce ‘White Male Population’ Joining Officer Ranks

The Air Force finally handed over a trove of documents pertaining to its sweeping “goal” of reducing the number of white male applicants in a popular officer program after spending months stonewalling requests for their release.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman C.Q. Brown — at the time the highest-ranking member of the Air Force — issued a memorandum in 2022 that the branch was updating its racial and gender demographic goals for applicants seeking to become officers, in a bid to prioritize “diversity and inclusion.” Internal documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation include a slideshow from 2022 where the Air Force outlines racial and gender quotas and details how it hopes to “achieve” a reduced number of white males in its Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) officer’s applicant program.

The documents reflect the Biden-Harris Pentagon’s intense focus on implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the armed forces, even as the military continues to combat dwindling morale among its rank-and-file, recruiting and retention shortfalls and low pay.

“The American people are rightly concerned that, at a time when our country is facing dangerous and increasing threats throughout the world, the Air Force is focused on recruitment efforts based on arbitrary racial diversity goals — not merit or increasing the force’s lethality,” James Fitzpatrick, director of the Center To Advance Security In America (CASA), told the DCNF.

CASA requested records regarding the Air Force’s new officer applicant standards through a federal transparency request, called a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2023. At the time, the Air Force said it couldn’t find any records, according to a letter obtained by the DCNF.

CASA then sued the Air Force for the records in April 2024 and received hundreds of documents and slides in response, which the DCNF subsequently obtained.

A spokesperson for the Air Force told the DCNF “The FOIA request was being processed at multiple levels within the Air Force.”

“One of the units responded to the FOIA request with a ‘no responsive records’ response after conducting their own local search, while the remainder of the units continued to process the responsive documents that were ultimately provided,” the spokesperson told the DCNF.

One of the slides in question, labeled “AFROTC White,” depicts a graph that shows the percentage of white male ROTC officer applicants declining from approximately 60% in fiscal year 2019 to a projected 50% in fiscal year 2023. The graph further details how the Air Force’s goal is to reduce that percentage down to approximately 43% by fiscal year 2029, denoted by a star with the label “achieve(d) goal.”

“White male population will decline as other demographics increase,” the slide reads.

The respective slides in question also explain that the Air Force is either on track or needs to do more to hit racial and gender quotas in the ROTC’s officer applicant pool.

For example, with the African American population, the slideshow suggests the Air Force “target [the] male population through ongoing programs and marketing” and notes it has already met its “female goal” for ROTC officer applicants. For the American Indian, Asian and Hispanic applicants, the slideshow says the Air Force is “on track to grow diversity.”

“These documents show us that the Air Force has taken steps toward implementing their new directive of specific racial quotas for officer recruitment and enrollment throughout the branch,” Fitzpatrick told the DCNF.

Included in the slide deck are funding requests for diversity recruiting initiatives, including $500,000 for “diversity advertising campaigns” and $250,000 for “influencer engagements.”

In a separate set of documents from as early as 2022, the Air Force outlines its efforts to modify ROTC scholarship programs, which “play an important role in accession and diversity goals.” The Air Force suggests modifying the scholarship models could remove certain “testing barriers” to entry for under-represented groups.

A screenshot of an internal Air Force slide deck titled “Officer Accession Applicant Pool Goals Diversity & Inclusion Outreach Plans” from January 2022.

The diversity plans extend to the Air Force’s Aim High Flight Academy (AHFA), an aviation scholarship program for high school, ROTC and Air Force Academy students, according to the documents. The Air Force notes that the AFHA applicant pool should be made up of a “minimum” of 60% underrepresented groups, further noting that it must be at least 35% minorities.

Like other branches of the military, the Air Force has struggled to keep up with recruiting and retention targets in recent years. The Navy is expected to miss its recruiting goals in 2024; the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force are on on track to meet their goals, although the latter two branches missed their targets in 2022 and 2023, according to Military Times.

Only approximately 57% of servicemembers or military families polled by the Military Family Advisory Network in 2023 said they’d recommend joining the service, compared to 74% in 2019. Among some of the reasons the respondents wouldn’t recommend service were the politically charged nature of the military, differences and divisions, and low pay, among others.

A year-long study from the Arizona State University Center for American Institutions found that the Pentagon has turned into a “vast DEI bureaucracy” in the last four decades, a challenge that has been exacerbated by the Biden-Harris administration.

“It’s no surprise that young people are turning away from military service in record numbers… DEI indoctrination has become a core component of military training that begins for officers even at the service academies,” Matt Lohmeier, former Space Force commander, said in a statement in June.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comment from the Air Force.

AUTHOR

Jake Smith

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Biden-Harris Regime Immediately Leaks Details of Israeli Pager Op

Always stab allies in the back. 

Israel did not take responsibility for the pager attack that crippled Hezbollah’s comms and took out a chunk of their officer corps. It certainly did not go ahead and describe how it was done for the media. That’s tradecraft. And you don’t reveal it.

But the New York Times had a report detailing how it happened that same evening. I won’t link to it as it carries the byline of fake news fabulist Sheera Frenkel who had previously carried water for Hamas and lied that the Islamic terror group had not kidnapped and killed three Israeli teens.

The report is described as being based on briefings received by American officials.

The material leaked to the Times comes from “American and other officials briefed on the operation” and the “American and other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the operation.”

Is this classified information? Sounds like it. If we were involved it certainly would be.

The official American position was that we were not aware of the attack beforehand.

A U.S. official said that several minutes before the pagers started exploding across Lebanon, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant called U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and told him Israel was going to conduct an operation in Lebanon soon, but refused to give any specific details.

The U.S. official said the Israelis didn’t tell the U.S. about the specifics of the operation, but added that Gallant’s call was an attempt to avoid keeping the U.S. totally in the dark.

Nevertheless, U.S. officials said they didn’t see Gallant’s call as a serious prior notice. “We were not aware of this operation and were not involved,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.

Assuming that’s true (and considering the pro-terrorist and foreign regime figures in this administration, including in the Pentagon and NSC, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Israelis held back their plans) then the Israelis held a briefing afterward.

And then the officials turned around and leaked it all to the New York Times.

Did they do that on their own? Maybe. D.C. is notoriously leaky. But still leaking details of an op a few hours after a briefing is a bit much even by D.C. standards. Unless it was administration policy to leak it.

Under Obama, leaks of Israeli operations were standard procedure. But if this was Biden-Harris admin policy, it doesn’t just hurt Israel, it hurts America. The leak undermines claims that we didn’t know about it beforehand. And encourages Hezbollah to target our people as the weaker link in the Oct 7 war.

Some officials in this administration clearly don’t care, but they could also find themselves in the line of fire.

The Biden-Harris admin follows the Obama policy of stabbing allies in the back. But the back it stabs could end up being its own.

AUTHOR

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EDTORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Washington’s Betrayal of Israel Makes No Strategic or Moral Sense

The Jerusalem Post’s editors take a dim view of Biden’s threat to halt military aid — 500-pound bombs, 2000-pound bombs, artillery shells — if the IDF goes beyond the outer perimeter of Rafah. They soberly set out all the reasons why the Bidenite distancing itself from its ally, Israel, makes no strategic or moral sense.

More on their response to what can only be called a great betrayal of an ally can be found here:

Betrayal of allies: U.S. pauses munitions, while threatening Israel’s security – Editorial

Jerusalem Post, May 9, 2024:

Amid the conflict in Gaza, the United States administration’s decision to delay a crucial shipment of munitions to Israel is not just a logistical delay; it is a major erosion of trust between staunch allies.

On a seemingly ordinary Monday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made a startling revelation: the US would withhold one shipment of essential munitions from Israel due to concerns about possible civilian casualties in the strategic Rafah region. This announcement added a layer of complexity and doubt at a time when decisive action is most needed. Austin’s move strikes at the heart of the operational readiness of the IDF and sends a worrying signal about the US’s resolve to stand by its ally.

The timing and reasoning behind this pause are particularly troubling. It came during a critical phase of Israel’s operations against Hamas, a terrorist organization that poses a relentless threat to the security of Israeli civilians. Allies depend on consistent and reliable support in times of crisis; however, this decision by the US suggests a wavering commitment, raising questions about its reliability as a strategic partner.

Criticism from The Wall Street Journal underscores the strategic missteps. Its editorial earlier this week pointed out that such hesitations directly benefit Hamas, allowing it a respite when Israeli forces are applying pressure. This not only potentially prolongs the conflict but risks increasing the civilian casualties the US wants to prevent. It’s a paradox that undermines the intended ethical stance of the US and illustrates a misunderstanding of the dynamics in fighting entrenched terrorist elements.

Moreover, the decision [to withhold offensive weapons] represents more than a temporary tactical shift; it signals a possible change in US foreign policy that could have long-lasting geopolitical repercussions. The US has historically been Israel’s staunchest ally, providing not just military aid but als standing by its right to defend itself on international platforms. This pause in military aid is at the very least, a moment of hesitation that adversaries could exploit….

As Israel continues to face significant security challenges, the unequivocal support of its principal ally is indispensable. The US must provide not just military aid, it must also send a clear and consistent message of solidarity. This is crucial not only for the stability of the region but for the integrity of international relations where commitments must be honored and alliances respected. The strength of a promise, much like the strength of a nation, is its consistency over time. Allies must not and cannot afford to leave each other adrift, especially when the stakes are as high as national survival.

No editorial comment on the Bidenites’ betrayal of America’s longstanding ally, Israel, has covered so well what is wrong with Biden’s decision to withhold offensive weapons from Israel if the IDF goes into Rafah, as it must if it wishes to destroy Hamas. No other editorial has explained so thoroughly the damage being done to the US-Israel alliance, and to stability in the region, by Washington’s display of a lack of solidarity with Israel, thereby giving hope to Hamas, Hezbollah, and above all, Iran.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

No One Was Running the Pentagon as U.S. Navy Fought Iran-Backed Terrorists

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was on vacation in Puerto Rico.

Is this an outrage or a perfect metaphor for this administration in which no one is in the driver’s seat? Sometimes literally.

Amid tensions in the Middle East, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, including spending four days in the intensive care unit, according to two senior administration officials.

The Pentagon did not inform senior officials in the White House’s National Security Council of Austin’s hospitalization until Thursday — three days after he arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center, a U.S. official confirms. Politico first reported the delay.

Austin is 70. There was a time when Donald Rumsfeld was considered on the old side, but his first time on the job, he had been in his 40s. Dick Cheney was actually in his late 40s during the Reagan administration, Bill Cohen was in his late 50s and Bob McNamara was in his forties.

But by the standards of the Biden administration, Austin is ‘the kid’. Still an administration with a lot of people past retirement age should probably be more prepared for medical emergencies by senior staff.

Since Austin is 11 years younger than Joe Biden, they probably figured there was nothing to worry about. But spending 4 days in the ICU is not a joke. This suggests something serious was going on.

And so no one was running the Pentagon while we were clashing with Iran’s Houthi-backed Jihadis.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who was on leave, has picked up his duties, the senior defense official said.

Hicks was on pre-scheduled leave when Austin was hospitalized this week, according to a defense official. She has been on vacation in Puerto Rico, the official said.

She “has maintained full communication with the DOD staff throughout,” the official said. “She has monitored DOD’s day-to-day operations and conducted some routine business.”

Zoom.

Austin’s number two was on vacation (and no one told her to scrap her vacation because your boss, who is a rather vital figure, is undergoing surgery, and you should probably stay home.

And even afterward, she “maintained full communications” while on vacation.

This is the sort of nonsense we’d have expected from a fourth-rate European NATO member country twenty years ago where nothing really matters anyway and the military just exists to occasionally show up at parades.

I don’t even understand this insane level of ineptitude and disregard for basic protocol. But then again I also don’t understand how national security secrets keep being leaked by guys arguing on video game forums.

(By the way if you want to know what Kathleen’s qualifications are to head the Pentagon, don’t ask. It will only depress you further.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

REPORT: U.S. Warship, Multiple Commercial Ships Under Attack In Red Sea

An American warship and several commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said, without identifying the source of the attack, per the AP news report.

The attack began at about 10 a.m. in Sanaa, Yemen, and had lasted as long as five hours, with the Carney intercepting at least one drone during the attack, some unnamed U.S. officials reportedly told the AP.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Iran-linked, Yemen-based Houthi rebels said the Houthis took responsibility for attacking two Israeli ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden with a drone and a missile, The Times of Israel reported. The Houthis reportedly did not mention the attack on the Carney but reportedly added that the attacks would continue for as long as the Israel-Hamas war lasts.

The British military simply said there were drone attacks and explosions in the Red Sea, per the AP.

A rocket hit a Bahamian-flagged British vessel sailing off Yemen’s western coast, per the Times of Israel.

Before the reported attack on the Carney, there reportedly were at least 38 similar attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel.

The reported attack occurred a day after the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rallied Saturday for American leadership on the world stage in his keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

“The world built by American leadership can only be maintained by American leadership,” Austin said. “From Russia to China, from Hamas to Iran, our rivals and foes want to divide and weaken the United States — and to split us off from our allies and partners. So at this hinge in history, America must not waver. … [T]he cost of abdication has always far outweighed the cost of leadership.”

AUTHOR

JOHN OYEWALE

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

U.S. Conducts Second Round Of Retaliatory Airstrikes In Syria As Attacks On Troops Rises To 41

The U.S. conducted a second round of retaliatory airstrikes at facilities used by Iran’s elite military and Iran-backed groups in Syria on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

Attacks by Iranian-backed militias on bases in Iraq and Syria hosting U.S. troops numbered 41 on Wednesday after at least one more was confirmed, Fox News reported. The retaliatory strikes marked the second time the U.S. has targeted facilities linked to Iran and its proxy militias since the wave of attempted drone and rocket attacks beginning on Oct. 17.

“This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates,” Austin said in the statement. “The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.”

President Joe Biden directed the attacks in eastern Syria on weapons storage facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias, the statement said. Two U.S. F-15 fighter jets conducted the airstrikes.

“The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. We urge against any escalation. U.S. personnel will continue to conduct counter-ISIS missions in Iraq and Syria,” he added.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on Monday characterized the operations as repeated “harassing attacks of drones and rockets.” At least 46 personnel sustained injuries including traumatic brain injuries and minor wounds from shrapnel, headaches, perforated ear drums and other conditions, he said.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Investigative reporter, defense.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Most I N C O M P E T E N T Cabinet in U.S. History?

On April 1st, 2021 (April Fools Day) Joseph Robinett Biden Jr. tweeted,

April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, is an annual custom on April 1st consisting of “practical jokes” and “hoaxes.”

Little did anyone realize that this single Biden tweet was both a joke and a hoax fostered upon the the American people.

On April 29th, 2021 the White House stated in its FACT SHEET: 100 Days In, Biden-Harris Administration Makes History with Presidential Appointees the following,

Today, the White House Office of Presidential Personnel is releasing new data about the historic number and diversity of presidential appointees hired by Day 100 of the Biden-Harris Administration.

Since Biden’s inauguration we have learned the following about Biden’s “diverse” cabinet:

  • Attorney General Merrick Garland. AG Garland has spied on the American people, designated parents who speak out about what their children are taught in public schools as “domestic terrorists”, over ruled the FBI and ordered a raid on the private residence of President Donald J. Trump, worked with social media platforms to censor Americans. House Resolution 743 — 117th Congress (2021-2022) stated, “On October 4, 2021, the Department of Justice released a memorandum from Attorney General Garland promising to announce a series of measures designed to address the alleged rise in criminal conduct toward school personnel, including opening dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting. Attorney General Garland’s memo made no mention of the statutory authority or authorities the Department would use to address those threats…Attorney General Garland has failed to faithfully uphold his oath and has by his actions, validated the belief of many Americans that the Department of Justice has been transformed into an unstoppable, partisan, Federal weapon used to officially punish political opponents. In an October 4, 2021, memorandum, Attorney General Garland announced that the Department of Justice would address alleged criminal conduct of lawful First Amendment activities objecting, among other things, to the teaching of “equity”, “inclusion”, and “critical race theory” concepts in public school districts.” Read  the full text of HR 743 — 117th Congress (2021-2022).
  • Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. On February 1, 2023 Congressman Andy Biggs filed a resolution to impeach Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” According to USA Today, “Biggs listed as examples Mayorkas’ opposition to continue building the border fence, which had been a priority of former President Donald Trump, and opposition to keeping the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program. Biggs also criticized Mayorkas for slowing down Title 42, a pandemic-era border health rule that allows the government to quickly deport people here illegally because of the COVID-19 health emergency.” Mayorkas “started immediately emasculating the very, very strong policies of the previous (Trump) administration,” Biggs said.
  • Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In a New York Times op-ed published on Monday (27 Feb 2023) while she visited the nation, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed American taxpayers have a “moral duty” to defend Ukraine’s eastern border from invasion by giving aid to the nation. Yellen said the American support “is motivated, first and foremost, by a moral duty to come to the aid of a people under attack.” So far, American lawmakers have so far earmarked more than $110 billion of moral duty from taxpayers to defend the border against a Russian invasion. “Our work is not over. In fact, it is more vital than ever that we continue supporting the Ukrainians,” she continued. “Ukraine’s military resistance depends on a government that can function effectively, as well as a stable economy that can help finance defense efforts over the long term. By fortifying the ‘home front,’ our economic assistance is helping make possible Ukraine’s stalwart frontline defense against Russia.”
  • Secretary of Defense Defense Lloyd Austin. The Stars and Stripes reported on October 6, 2022, “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday directed senior defense leaders to begin changing the names of military bases and assets honoring the Confederacy, bringing the Pentagon in line with recommendations issued by a congressional commission. Austin said he agreed with the findings of the Naming Commission, a group convened by Congress to purge the military of commemorative references to the Confederacy, and is committed to implementing the renaming plan as soon as possible.” On 23 Feb 2023 on NPR’s All Things Considered, woke Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin responded to questions on what would constitute a victory in the Ukraine-Russia war by stating that “Ukraine’s going to decide what victory’s going to look like.” Asked how this war ends, Austin responded, “I think, again, we’re going to focus on what’s in front of us right now and put them in the best possible position to continue to be successful. And I think that will lead us to Ukraine being in a — again, a good place, whether or not the fighting continues or whether or not they decide to go to the negotiating table.”
  • Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Michele Gama Sosa opinion editor for the Daily Caller asked Is Pete Buttigieg The Most Incompetent Transportation Secretary In History? Sosa on January 12, 2023 wrote, “Things just keep getting worse for Pete Buttigieg. After Southwest Airlines ruined many Americans’ holiday plans with mass cancelations, now a “glitch” is causing hundreds of flights to be canceled again.”  Trending Politics, on March 3, 2023 reported, “On Thursday, authorities announced that Patrick Wojahn, the mayor of College Park, Maryland, had been arrested on numerous charges of suspected child p*rnography and had subsequently resigned from his position. The Prince George’s County Police Department reported that Wojahn, 47, was accused of 56 counts of alleged child p*rnography, including 40 counts of possessing child exploitative material and 16 counts of distributing child exploitative material. According to the Washington Blade, Wojhan was mentored by Pete Buttigieg. The article was written in 2019 and goes into depth about the relationship the two political figures had. During his Council elections and his first run as a mayoral candidate, Wojahn knew he had no choice but to run as an openly gay man because of his media prominence with the marriage equality lawsuit. But being elected as an out gay mayor landed him a fortuitous mentor…The two continued to talk over the phone and Buttigieg explained the conference to him and what would take place at the meeting. Later, they would both attend a White House reception during the Obama administration where Dave and Chasten (Buttigieg) would meet as well. Wojahn said, “I actually met Mayor Pete Buttigieg shortly after I was elected mayor in 2015, I went to the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Winter Meeting in D.C. in January and he was assigned to be my buddy.”
  • FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director William Burns and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. in a column titled TWITTER FILES: FBI, CIA, DoD, Et al. Actively Worked With EVERY Social Media Platform to Control and Censor Speech wrote, “In this latest drop we see the FBI, CIA, DoD, State Department, Pentagon, et.al. dictating censorship to Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon, Reddit, even Pinterest, and many others. This is so vast, so deep, it’s …… the whole of the state. The files show the FBI acting as doorman to a vast program of social media surveillance and censorship, encompassing agencies across the federal government – from the State Department to the Pentagon to the CIA. The government was in constant contact not just with Twitter but with virtually every major tech firm. We live in a surveillance state.”

The Bottom Line

Breitbart’s Charlies Spiering on wrote,

President Joe Biden boasted that his cabinet “looks like America” during his first meeting with his team on Thursday.

“This is the first in American history that the Cabinet looks like America,” Biden said as his cabinet gathered at the White House. “That’s what we promised we were going to do, and we’ve done it.”

[ … ]

Kamala Harris is the first female vice president, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is the first female Treasury Secretary, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is the first black defense secretary, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is the first Native American cabinet secretary.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are both the first Hispanic Americans to hold their positions.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the first Senate-confirmed openly gay cabinet secretary.

What has happened since Biden was selected president is unbelievable. Biden has based his cabinet selections on sex, race and sexual orientation, not on competence.

We have seen a war started, high gasoline prices, the cost of food sky rocket, the cost of services rising, lockdowns, mandated Covid jabs, train derailments, ship yards shut down, taxes and spending going through the roof.

Add to this the invasion of our Southern border by illegal aliens and drug cartel members who are bringing in enough fentanyl to kill every single American. Human trafficking, crime, defund the police, neuter not only our children but our law enforcement agencies and police.

QUESTION: What has this cabinet ACTUALLLY DONE for the American people?

Perhaps it is better to ask: What is this cabinet DOING TO HARM the American people EACH AND EVERY DAY?

We report. You decide if this is the most I N C O M P E T E N T Cabinet in U.S. History.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

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Here’s Why The Government Can’t Set Up Abortion Clinics On Federal Land

Despite demands from several prominent Democrats, the federal government is prohibited from using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.

The Hyde Amendment, first included in federal appropriations bills in 1976, prohibits the federal government from funding abortions unless “the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.” Activists estimate that the Hyde Amendment prevents at least 60,000 abortions every year.

The amendment is named for Republican Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who championed it.

Although support for the amendment was initially bipartisan, Democrats in recent years have attempted to pass federal budgets that do not include the provision. President Joe Biden flip-flopped on support for the amendment during his 2020 presidential campaign, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi attempted to jettison the provision for an early COVID-19 relief package. Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s demand that the Hyde Amendment be included in a social spending package was a key factor in the breakdown in Build Back Better negotiations.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, several Republican-controlled states instituted trigger laws limiting abortion. In response, prominent left-wing Democrats urged the Biden administration to take actions to protect abortion access in those states.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren both called on the federal government to make abortions available on federal lands like national parks, where state governments could not regulate the procedure.

Warren and Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith claimed in a New York Times op-ed that Biden could provide “federal resources for individuals seeking abortion care in other states” and use “federal property and resources to protect people seeking abortion services locally.” Warren also claimed that the administration could designate “federal lands as a place where abortions can occur.”

Ocasio-Cortez added that providing abortion services on federal lands is the “the babiest of the babiest of the baby steps” that the federal government can take.

Neither Warren nor Ocasio-Cortez responded to the Daily Caller’s request for comment on whether or not they believe that such actions would violate the Hyde Amendment.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected the congressional Democrats’ suggestion Monday, but two cabinet members did suggest that they would use their agencies to promote abortion access.

“Nothing is more important to me or to this Department than the health and well-being of our Service members, the civilian workforce and DOD families,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a Friday statement shortly after the ruling. “I am committed to taking care of our people and ensuring the readiness and resilience of our Force.”

“The Department is examining this decision closely and evaluating our policies to ensure we continue to provide seamless access to reproductive health care as permitted by federal law,” he added.

When contacted for comment, a Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson cited a memorandum released Tuesday by Undersecretary of Defense Gilbert Cisneros. The memorandum stressed that the DOD will comply with the conditions laid out by the Hyde Amendment, and “will continue to follow existing departmental policy.”

Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra promised to “increase access” to abortifacients, claiming that his agency has been planning for “every action necessary to protect women’s access to reproductive healthcare.”

A spokesperson for HHS did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment on compliance with the Hyde Amendment.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

TAKE ACTION To Impeach Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin – Sign The Petition

Instead of fighting the enemy, he was fighting Americans.


Sign the Freedom Center’s petition to Remove Secretary Austin NOW! –  CLICK HERE.


Americans are dead and our credibility is in ruins. Meanwhile the man at the top of the military chain of command is blaming everyone else while using the dead for political cover.

When Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he suggested that any criticism of his disaster in Afghanistan would impugn the heroism of American soldiers who fought and died in the war. It was a shameless performance in which Austin blamed everyone else while using the soldiers he sacrificed as human shields.

Indian intelligence sources revealed that the ISIS-K suicide bomber who murdered 13 American military personnel at the Kabul airport had been released from Bagram Air Base by the Taliban.

The decision to pull out of Bagram had been reached at a secret meeting in the Pentagon’s “extreme basement” attended by Austin, Gen. Milley, and Secretary of State Blinken.

Any final decision would have had to be signed off by Biden and by Austin.

It’s understandable that Austin keeps coming up with excuses for the disaster that led to the death of more American personnel in one day than in the last two years of war in Afghanistan.

Austin is at the top of the military chain of command and answers only to the man in the Oval Office. No one is more responsible for the military disaster in Afghanistan than Austin except for the man who gave him his orders. But it was Austin who promised Senate members that if he were confirmed, he would speak his mind and stand up to Joe Biden.

“I certainly wouldn’t be here if I believed the last four years of my life left me too familiar with current operations to change course when needed, too close to scrutinize people with whom I once served, or too afraid to speak my mind to you or to the President,” Austin had assured the Senate Armed Service Committee during his confirmation hearing.

It was one of the many broken promises that Austin left in his wake during his brief tenure. The Secretary of Defense had promised to end the war in Afghanistan “on terms favorable to the United States”, had assured that, “Afghan security forces have the capability and capacity to project security and stability in Afghanistan in 2021 and beyond”, and that he would work to “ensure that the U.S. military and our Afghan partners have the capacity and capability necessary to protect U.S. personnel, our allies and partners, and our interests.”

Austin vowed to represent national interests, to be independent and flexible, and to keep American soldiers and civilians in Afghanistan and in the United States safe.

As the Afghanistan disaster unfolded, Austin showed off all of his abandoned promises.

He explained that he could not rescue the Americans trapped behind enemy lines. “I don’t have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul.” Austin acknowledged that Americans were being assaulted by the Taliban. “We’re also aware that some people, including Americans, have been harassed and even beaten by the Taliban.” he admitted, but all he had to offer was a protest that he had registered with “the designated Taliban leader.”

In eight months under Austin’s leadership, U.S. military forces had gone from a dominant force to being unable to stop the Taliban from beating Americans in the streets of Kabul.

This disgraceful betrayal was implemented by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

No single military figure had done as much to radicalize the military, undermine military readiness, shatter international alliances, and destroy America’s credibility abroad.

Austin’s opening statement at his confirmation hearing made no mention of Afghanistan or the Taliban, or even Al Qaeda, ISIS, and terrorism. Instead he vowed to fight the “enemies” that “lie within our own ranks” and “rid our ranks of racists and extremists” by which he meant anyone who wasn’t on board with critical race theory and the rest of his radical leftist agenda.

In February, Austin held his first press conference at which he discussed the Biden administration’s illegal military occupation of Washington D.C. He also mentioned that, “I told our allies that no matter what the outcome of our review, the United States will not undertake a hasty or disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

NATO allies were promised that, “There will be no surprises. We will consult each other, consult together and decide together and act together.” As the British and other NATO allies have made clear, there was no consultation and there were no joint decisions. Instead Biden and Austin made disastrous unilateral moves while leaving the nations that had aided us holding the bag.

But Austin was spending far more time fighting conservatives in the military than fighting the enemy. While white personnel were being told that they were oppressors, and minority personnel were encouraged to believe that they were victims of white racism, the planning for a full evacuation from Afghanistan was being pushed off as it was an unimportant matter.

Defense Secretary Austin kept sloganeering about “a responsible and sustainable end to this war” and promised, “we want to do this methodically and deliberately”. Instead, he abandoned Bagram Air Base, cutting off the only safe evacuation route, and pulled all but 600 military personnel out, only to rush troops back at the last minute for a “hasty” and “disorderly withdrawal”.

Austin had also promised that U.S. military weapons wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Taliban.

“We’re going to responsibly retrograde all of our capabilities,” Austin had falsely promised.  “We’re going to account for all the people and resources that are working with us.”

Instead, Austin left the Taliban as the best armed Sunni Jihadist group on the planet.

While Austin was vowing to fight all the “racists and extremists” in the military, he was ignoring a report to the Pentagon’s Inspector General which warned that “Al Qaeda is gaining strength in Afghanistan while continuing to operate with the Taliban under the Taliban’s protection” and that “Al Qaeda capitalizes on its relationship with the Taliban through its network of mentors and advisers who are embedded with the Taliban, providing advice, guidance, and financial support.”

Al Qaeda functioned in relation to the Taliban the way that America did to the Afghan government as an embedded supportive force providing money and strategic insights. The Taliban had not only failed to turn on Al Qaeda, but the terrorist group that had attacked America on September 11 was playing the role of the wizards behind the Taliban curtain.

In response to Senate questions, Austin wrote that the “Taliban have agreed to take concrete steps to ensure that al Qaeda never again is able to use Afghanistan’s soil to threaten the security of the United States or our allies. If confirmed, I will review the Taliban’s progress toward implementing their commitments with regard to al Qaeda.”

The Taliban implemented their commitments to Al Qaeda, not to Austin. The Haqqani Network, longtime Al Qaeda allies, control Kabul and the terrorist group freely operates in Afghanistan.

“We are committed to a responsible and sustainable end to this war while preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups that threaten the interest of the United States and our allies,” Austin had said. But the report to the Pentagon IG had already made it clear that Taliban control over Afghanistan would mean the return of Al Qaeda.

What happened wasn’t a surprise, it was inevitable.

“The whole community is kind of watching to see what happens and whether or not al Qaeda has the ability to regenerate in Afghanistan,” Austin told reporters during his post-defeat tour.

As usual, he was late to the party.

“We put the Taliban on notice that we expect them to not allow that to happen,” he said, referring to Al Qaeda using Afghanistan to launch attacks against the United States. The “notice” will be as effective as the one about the Taliban beating Americans at checkpoints.

But Austin had made it his priority to use the military against fellow Americans, whether in Washington D.C. or within the ranks of the military, while betraying Americans to the Taliban.

“This all occurred in a span of about 11 days. Nobody predicted that, you know, the government would fall in 11 days,” Austin whined during an ABC News interview.

Every Biden administration official had latched on the same dishonest talking point.

As the Washington Post noted, “On Sept. 27, 1996, Taliban forces captured Kabul overnight, flooding in from all directions after a 15-day sweep of the country.” There were plenty of intelligence estimates warning of a rapid Taliban takeover. But Austin didn’t have to wait until there were only 11 days left. What was he doing since Kamala Harris swore him in on Jan 25?

Where were all those “responsible” and “methodical” plans he had been promising all along?

Instead of planning how to keep Americans safe, Austin spent those months waging war on Americans with a militarization of Washington D.C. and with a purge of the military. And when 13 American military personnel died because of his actions at the Kabul airport, the dead heroes proved to be men and women, white and Latino, who represented the spectrum that Austin was trying to divide with the big lies of critical race theory and a hunt for “extremists”.

The real extremists were Austin, Milley, and Biden.

Like most leftists, Secretary of Defense Austin could not take the idea of an external enemy seriously. Radicals striving to take power focus all their efforts on fighting internal enemies. And while Austin fought other Americans, Al Qaeda and the Taliban claimed Afghanistan.

Along with untold billions in military equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters, drones, armored vehicles, and a treasure trove of assault rifles and heavy weaponry.

On his post-defeat tour, Austin has claimed that the disaster, “will be studied in the days and months ahead”, and admitted that, “No operation is ever perfect, there are lessons to be learned.” What those lessons are, he hasn’t bothered sharing with the rest of the country.

Austin may not be especially bright, but he is a career military man who reached the pinnacle of his profession. He knew that the Afghanistan withdrawal would be a disaster and that is why he reportedly advised Biden to conduct it in stages, instead of in one fell swoop. Biden ignored his advice and Austin shrugged because he didn’t care about Afghanistan, he cared about “racism”.

The real lesson here is on the dangers of putting radicals with racial grudges in charge of the United States military. The Afghanistan rout was not an unexpected surprise, it was the cumulative effect of radicalism, incompetence, and apathy by a politicized and disloyal brass.

While Austin was fighting enemies at home, he enabled enemies abroad. He made fellow American military personnel into his enemies and they died at the hands of true enemies.

The betrayal in Afghanistan began with a betrayal at home.

COLUMN BY

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.