Stevenson’s army, September 15

– Jonathan Swan of Axios suggests lawmakers believe he was acting too politically, if the Woodward book is accurate.Sen. Rubio [R-FL] says it was “treasonous” that he called the Chinese military.

– I see a different problem. Milley is not in the chain of command. No JCS Chairman has been since Goldwater-Nichols. Therefore he should not be telling other commanders to let him know about orders from higher authority. Milley can’t “pull a Schlesinger” because only the SecDef can. 

– Swan reports that Esper had concerns about China and that he, not Milley, called off the planned exercises. That’s suggests correct consultation.

FYI, Woodward also reveals a Trump effort outside the chain of command.

-SecState Blinken went before SFRC for another contentious hearing. Here’s the hearing link.

– But Chairmen Menendez [D-NJ]  was angry that the SecDef declined to testify. Sec. Austin was only following the precedent set by SecDef Rumsfeld who, over 6 years, refused to testify before any committee other than appropriations and armed services, on the grounds that they were his only overseers. [He did appear once before SFRC on a treaty defense wanted, which of course was in SFRC jurisdiction.]

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).